Gnissninger i Sør Kinahavet fortsetter - AP

Som kjent har Kina tatt seg til rette over store deler av internasjonalt farvann og erklært kinesisk eierskap til disse. Det er akkurat det Putin har gjort med det østlige Ukraina. (Red.)

China says a US Navy ship ‘illegally intruded’ into waters in the South China Sea

CORRECTS TO USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, FILE - In this handout photo released by Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippines BRP Jose Rizal (FF150), right, and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) during a tactical exercise between Philippines and the United States in the West Philippine Sea on Thursday Nov. 23, 2023. The Chinese military said on Dec. 4 that American naval ship USS Gabriel Giffords had “illegally intruded” on Monday into waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, the site of a hot territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. (Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP, File)

Updated 10:31 AM CET, December 4, 2023

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BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese military said that an American naval ship had “illegally intruded” on Monday into waters near the Second Thomas Shoal, the site of a hot territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

A Chinese naval force was mobilized to track the USS Gabrielle Giffords during the operation, according to a statement from the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the ship “was conducting routine operations in international waters ... consistent with international law.”

Chinese and Philippine naval and coast guard ships have confronted each other repeatedly around the shoal in the Spratly Islands in recent months as China tries to prevent the Philippines from resupplying and repairing a rusting warship that it intentionally ran aground in 1999 to serve as a military outpost.

Dwarfed by China’s military might, the Philippines has sought America’s help in its multiple territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed to an expansion of the U.S. military presence in the country early this year and launched joint sea and air patrols with the United States late last month.