The US military says two of its warships have sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea, a move that has angered Beijing at a time of tense ties between the world's two biggest economies.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the US ships entered the waters near the islets without the Chinese government's permission, and the Chinese navy warned them to leave."The relevant moves by the US ships infringed upon Chinese sovereignty, and damaged the peace, security and good order of the relevant seas. China is strongly dissatisfied with this and resolutely opposed to it," he told a daily news briefing.
The busy waterway is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a trade war, US sanctions and Taiwan. China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea and frequently lambasts the US and its allies over naval operations near Chinese-occupied islands.