China condemns US warship move

China has condemned the US after an American warship sailed near one of China’s islands in the hotly-contested South China Sea to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge Beijing’s vast territorial claims.

The missile destroyer, USS Curtis Wilbur, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, in the Paracel chain, “to challenge excessive maritime claims of parties that claim the Paracel Islands”, without notifying the three claimants beforehand, said defence department spokesman Mark Wright.

China, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the Paracels, and require prior notice from ships transitting what they consider their territorial waters.