The U.S. Navy hit back at the Chinese military over a claim it drove off a destroyer sailing in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of disputes between the nations.
The USS Milius “illegally entered Chinese waters without the Chinese government’s approval,” China’s Southern Theater Command said in a statement on social media Thursday. “The command organized naval and air forces to follow, monitor and warn it to drive it away in accordance with the law.”
The U.S. 7th Fleet disputed that version of events, saying in an email to Bloomberg News that the “statement is false.” The vessel was “conducting routine operations in the South China Sea and was not expelled. The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.”
