US rejects China ‘expelled’ its Navy warship near Truong Sa

	Exhibition on Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa ongoing in Da Nang
	Ministry of Defense sent helicopters to help injured soldiers in Truong Sa amid bad weather
	Map exhibition of Hoang Sa, Truong Sa held by MIC

The Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain. (Photo: American Military News)

China falsely claimed that it expelled an American warship from the Bien Dong Sea (South China Sea) on Tuesday, the US Navy has said, adding that Beijing’s statement was an effort to assert its illegitimate claims in the maritime region.

China on Tuesday said its military had “expelled” a US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailing near the Truong Sa Islands — also known as the Spratly Islands — in the South China Sea in a fresh escalation of tensions between the two countries, according to American Military News.

“The US action was a serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security, and it gravely disrupted peace and stability in the South China Sea, which China is resolutely against,” China’s state-run Global Times newspaper reported Tuesday, citing Tian.

“USS John S. McCain was not ‘expelled’ from any nation’s territory,” 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Joe Keiley said in an email. “USS John S. McCain conducted this [freedom of navigation operation] in accordance with international law and then continued on to conduct normal operations in international waters.” The McCain’s operation near the islands reflects the Navy’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation and lawful uses of the sea as a principle, Keiley said. “The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS John S. McCain did here,” he said, reported by Stars and Stripes.

Cmdr. Ryan T. Easterday, commander of the USS John S. McCain, scans the horizon in the South China Sea from the pilot house on Dec. 22, 2020. (Photo: US Navy)

“The PRC’s statement is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful US maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense of its southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea,” Keiley added.

The Chinese behavior stands in contrast to the United States’ adherence to international law and vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, he said. “All nations, large and small, should be secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms,” he said.

Vietnam asks Taiwan not to illegally conduct military exercise in Truong Sa (Spratly) Taiwan conducting the live-fire exercises in the waters around Vietnam's Ba Binh Island in the Spratly archipelago was a serious violation of Vietnam's territorial sovereignty.

China should have stopped tours of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago China should have respected Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes and cancelled tours of Vietnam’s Paracel islands.

BenarNews: Small islets show China’s alleged new construction in South China Sea (Bien Dong Sea) Satellite images show construction is ongoing on Drummond (Duy Mong), Tree (Cay) and West Sand (Con Cat Tay) islands of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.