U.S. incursion off Nanshas condemned

Beijing strongly condemned Washington on Thursday over a U.S. Navy warship sailing close to the Nansha Islands without permission, and warned that such action could damage the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

Experts said that the move shows the United States military wants to remain a presence in the region for both its domestic and international goals.

The USS Dewey, a guided missile destroyer, sailed less than 12 nautical miles from the Meiji Reef of the Nansha Islands early Thursday, the first such case under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. media reported, citing U.S. military officials.

China deployed the guided-missile frigates Liuzhou and Luzhou to identify and warn the U.S. ship to leave, Ren Guoqiang, spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, said at a regular news conference. China also made solemn representations, a diplomatic protest, to the U.S., he said.

"Such wrong conduct of the U.S. military will only encourage the Chinese military to further strengthen its capacity building and firmly defend our national sovereignty and security," he said.

He said China has undisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and surrounding waters. "We strongly oppose such practices of the U.S. military, which shows off its might, promotes regional militarization and easily causes unexpected air and sea accidents."

Ren said that a healthy and steady military relation between China and the U.S. is in line with the common interests of the two countries, and it needs concerted efforts on both sides. "We urge the U.S. to take concrete measures to correct the mistake and inject positive energy into the development of bilateral military relations," he said.

Lu Kang, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Thursday that the situation in the South China Sea is cooling down and showing positive signs of development, thanks to the joint efforts of China and ASEAN countries.

But the U.S. action risked severely disrupting the negotiations between the stakeholders in the South China Sea, "and benefits no one", he said.

"China resolutely opposes any country using freedom of navigation to undermine China's sovereignty and security interest," Lu said. "The determination to protect its territorial sovereignty, security and maritime interest is unshakable."

China strongly urged the U.S. to stop the provocations and refrain from damaging the peace and stability of the region as well as Sino-U.S. cooperation, he added.

Major General Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the People's Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said that the excuse of "freedom of navigation" allows the U.S. Navy to boast of its military presence in the region to achieve its domestic and international goals.

"By stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, domestically, the U.S. military can ask the Trump administration for more resources to contain China," he said. "Internationally, the U.S. military can reassure its global allies that it has not lost footing in the South China Sea, and appear tough before the upcoming Shangri-La Dialogue, where defense officials from around the world will meet in Singapore."

Editor: Eric Wang