US warship "illegally" enters Chinese waters
This exacerbates the relationship between the US and China: just a few weeks after the meeting between Biden and Xi, China accuses the US of invading areas in the South China Sea claimed by Beijing with a ship. China's troops have been on high alert ever since.
According to the Chinese military, a US battleship has "illegally" entered the waters near Ren'ai Reef in the South China Sea. "The US has seriously undermined peace and stability in the region," said a spokesperson for the South China Operations Center. Washington is "deliberately" stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.
The incident was "a serious violation of China's sovereignty and security". The Chinese People's Liberation Army had mobilized naval forces to track and monitor the US ship "USS Gabrielle Giffords". Its troops in the region are on high alert at all times in order to resolutely defend national sovereignty. A statement from the USA was not initially available.
The disputed reef, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, is located around 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than a thousand kilometers from the Chinese island of Hainan.
Hopes of rapprochement between the superpowers fizzled out?
Beijing regularly criticizes the passage of US warships, for example through the strait between Taiwan and China or in the South China Sea. Following the meeting between US President Joe Biden and China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping in mid-November, there was hope of a rapprochement between the two superpowers.
China is also at loggerheads with several of its neighbors over its far-reaching claims to territorial waters in the South China Sea, which it practically claims for itself. On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard dispatched two of its ships to the South China Sea after observing an "alarming" presence of Chinese naval vessels on a reef in the country's exclusive economic zone.
In addition to the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam also lay claim to parts of the sea area, which is of enormous strategic and economic importance to the littoral states. In 2016, the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague declared some of China's claims to the South China Sea to be unlawful. China does not recognize the ruling.
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The "USS Gabrielle Giffords," a US warship, was accused by China of entering Chinese waters near Ren'ai Reef in the South China Sea, a move viewed as a serious violation of China's sovereignty. This incident occurred in the same marital waters where the Philippine Coast Guard recently dispatched ships due to an alarming presence of Chinese naval vessels.
Source: www.ntv.de
