China ‘on high alert’, warns US after gesture ‘deliberately stirs up’ South China Sea tensions

China is on “high alert” after claiming the United States had been “deliberately stirring up” of tensions in some of the most hotly contested waters in the world.

China is on “high alert” after claiming the United States had been “deliberate stirring up” of tensions in the South China Sea, after a US warship navigated through waters claimed by Beijing.

China is on “high alert” as Beijing accuses the United States of “deliberately stirring up” tensions in the South China Sea, after a US warship travelled through a disputed zone.

A military spokesman claimed the USS Gabrielle Giffords “illegally” entered waters in the Nansha region of China “without the apporval of the Chinese government”.

The area in question, Ren’ai Reef, lies roughly 200km off the coast of the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China’s nearest major landmass.

China’s military claims it had “followed the entire operation”, adding that the “deliberate stirring up of the South China Sea by the United States is a serious infringement of China’s sovereignty and security”.

“Troops in the theatre of command maintain a high state of alert at all times, resolutely defending national sovereignty and security,” spokesman Tian Junli said.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that its claims to almost the entire sea have no legal basis.

The US Navy hit back shortly after China’s warning, insisting its work in the region was “for a free and open” territory.

“We will not be deterred from continuing to work alongside our allies and partners in support of our shared vision for a free and open Indo-pacific,” a statement read.

China has stoked tensions between Western powers by ramping up patrols of the waters and reefs in the South China Sea over the past decade. The superpower has also built artificial islands that it has militarised to reinforce its dominance.

The presence has raised alarm in the Philippines, with authorities from the island nation calling out China’s “blatant disregard of international law and harassment of lowly Filipino fishermen” earlier this year.

The Independence-variant combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords conducts routine operations in the South China Sea.

China is on ‘high alert’ after claiming the United States had been ‘deliberate stirring up’ of tensions in the South China Sea, after a US warship navigated through waters claimed by Beijing.

Washington has demanded Beijing stop “harassment and intimidation” of Philippine fishing and coast guard vessels in the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. Australia, the UK and Canada have also expressed concern through their ambassadors to Manila over China’s “dangerous conduct” in disputed waters.

The hotly-contested sea is the main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans, giving it enormous trade and military value.

Its shipping lanes connect East Asia with Europe and the Middle East, with trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passing through the sea annually.

Huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under the seabed, though estimates vary greatly.

The sea is also home to some of the world’s biggest coral reefs and, with marine life being depleted close to coasts, it is important as a source of fish to feed growing populations.

China and Taiwan both claim nearly all of the sea, while Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each have overlapping stakes to parts of it.

Beijing’s argument is based largely on Chinese maps dating back to the 1940s. It originally used an 11-dash line to demarcate its claims, but it was reduced to nine dashes under former leader Mao Zedong.

The expansive claim approaches the coasts of other countries. The Paracel Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, though Beijing has held all of them since a conflict with South Vietnam in 1974.

Vietnam controls 21 rocks and reefs in the Spratlys, while the Philippines has outposts on nine reefs and islands in the archipelago.

Taiwan holds the largest feature in the Spratlys, Itu Aba, while Malaysia controls five others.

The US Navy hit back shortly after China’s warning, insisting its work in the region was ‘for a free and open’ territory.

US warship attack in Red Sea

China’s naval warning to the US came immediately after the Pentagon reported a warship and multiple commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday, marking a frightening development ratcheting up maritime tensions in the Middle East during the Israel-Hamas war.

The USS Carney — which previously shot down missiles and drones aimed at it as it escorted a commercial vessel through the war-torn region — was targeted along with at least two other commercial ships starting around 10am local time in an assault that lasted about five hours, the Pentagon and an unnamed US official said, according to The Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear whether the American warship was struck.

An update is expected soon from the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

US officials did not identify where the military fire came from, although they added that the Carney shot down at least one drone Sunday.

A White House official seemed to downplay the incident to Fox News, saying that the American destroyer specifically did not come under attack in the Red Sea.

The US official further told Fox News there are no injuries or damage to the USS Carney.

US officials did not identify where the military fire came from, although they added that the Carney shot down at least one drone Sunday.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels — who have proclaimed they would attack ships on the Red Sea over Israeli’s ground incursion into Gaza — later acknowledged that they had targeted two Israeli commercial ships Sunday but did not mention the US Navy vessel.

Israel condemned the seizure as an “Iranian act of terror” although officials insisted the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated.

However, ownership details in public shipping databases associated the ship’s owners with Ray Car Carriers, which was founded by Rami Ungar, who is known as one of the richest men in Israel.

The rebels still hold the vessel near the port city of Hodeida.

Before reports of an attack on a US warship in the Red Sea on Sunday, former Obama CIA director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke about how the US should respond to the increasing number of attacks by Iran’s proxy groups against US forces in the Middle East.

“I would be much more aggressive,” Mr Panetta said on Saturday evening at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

“I want to go after those who are firing missiles at our troops and make sure they understand that when they fire a missile — they are going to die.”