A US Navy guided-missile destroyer has sailed past disputed islets of the South China Sea in a ‘freedom of navigation’ operation. In response, Beijing sent military ships and aircraft to warn it off, condemning the “provocation.”
The voyage of USS ‘McCampbell’ has triggered an angry reaction from Beijing. China’s Foreign Ministry accused the USA of entering the waters of the Paracel Islands without permission.
The USS McCambell sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands archipelago.
The troubled waters of the South China Sea are disputed by several nations of the region, namely Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Taiwan, which Beijing sees as an integral part of the mainland.
The incident coincided with the start of high-level talks on trade between the USA and China, which kicked off on Monday in Beijing. The negotiations, led by the deputy trade ministers of the two countries, are expected to go on for two days.
The trade war between Washington and Beijing has been going on for nearly a year already, with the two countries slapping tariffs on $300 billion worth of each other’s goods.
RT. com / ABC Flash Point Military News 2019.
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