China’s army on Monday mentioned a U.S. Navy ship illegally entered waters adjoining to the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed South China Sea atoll that has lately seen a number of maritime confrontations.

“The U.S. seriously undermined regional peace and stability,” a spokesperson for China’s Southern Theater of Operations mentioned in a press release, including that the U.S. disrupted the South China Sea and violated China’s sovereignty.

China is in disputes with a number of of its neighbours over its intensive claims of territorial waters within the South China Sea.
The U.S. Navy mentioned the USS Gabrielle Giffords, an Independence-class littoral fight ship, was conducting routine operations in worldwide waters within the South China Sea, in keeping with worldwide regulation.

“Every day the U.S. 7th Fleet operates in the South China Sea, as they have for decades,” the U.S. Navy mentioned in a press release. “These operations demonstrate we are committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific region.” In current months, China has had a number of run-ins with Philippine vessels and protested about U.S. ships patrolling disputed areas.

According to the Chinese army, the U.S. ship moved into waters adjoining to what China calls the Renai Reef, often known as the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands. The Second Thomas Shoal lies within the Philippines’ unique financial zone, in accordance with a United Nations tribunal ruling in 2016.

The Chinese army spokesperson mentioned the U.S. ship was monitored and adopted, and that China’s “troops in the theatre are on high alert at all times to resolutely defend national sovereignty”.

“We will not be deterred from continuing to work alongside our allies and partners in support of our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the U.S. Navy responded.

On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard deployed two of its vessels within the South China Sea after monitoring an “alarming” enhance within the variety of Chinese maritime militia vessels at a reef inside the nation’s unique financial zone.

(With inputs from Reuters)