China claims it chased a US warship into disputed Paracel waters

China’s military said on Thursday (March 23) that it had expelled a US warship it had “entered illegally” in the archipelago it controls in the South China Sea. This report of facts is under review “lie” by the United States. The destroyer USS Milius would penetrate the area “Without the consent of the Chinese authorities” in the waters of the Persian Gulf, according to Tian Junli, spokesman for the Chinese military’s southern theater of operations. “Navy and air forces have been mobilized to track and monitor this vessel, issue a warning and remove it from the area.”he noted.

The spokesman condemned the American maneuver, which he said “undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea”, and assured that the army “Remains vigilant and will take all necessary measures to firmly protect national sovereignty”.

The incident comes in the context of a struggle for influence between Beijing and Washington in this maritime area and intense rivalry over several other issues: Taiwan, TikTok, the treatment of the Uyghur minority. The Paracels, an archipelago equidistant from the coasts of China and Vietnam, are disputed between Beijing and Hanoi. The Chinese navy regained control of all the islands in 1974 after a naval conflict.

“The US will continue to fly, navigate and operate where international law permits.”

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) statement is misleading”said a representative of the US Army’s Indo-Pacific Command. “USS Milius […] conducting routine operations in the South China Sea and did not turn back. The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate where international law permits.”he noted.

China claims to have been the first country to discover and name the South China Sea islands, through which much of the trade between Asia and the rest of the world today passes. It thus lays claim to a large part of the islands in this maritime zone. But other littoral states (Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei) have competing claims of sovereignty.

Each country controls several islands and atolls, particularly in the Spratly Archipelago further south, where incidents are much more frequent than in the Paracels. The United States regularly conducts operations in the so-called South China Sea “Freedom of Navigation”Sending warships to challenge China’s claims.

Beijing has strengthened its control over certain islands and atolls in the maritime region over the past decade, carrying out expansion projects and building military installations there.