China prepares for ‘necessary measures’ near disputed islands

China is prepared to take “necessary measures” after a second incident in a week involving US warships near disputed waters.

The USS Chancellorsville moored in Hong Kong last month. Picture: AFP

China has warned it is prepared to take “necessary measures” to defend its sovereignty after a ­second incident in a week invol­ving US warships sailing near disputed waters.

China said at the weekend it had sent its naval forces to warn off the guided missile destroyer USS Chancellorsville, which sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea last week, after a port visit to Hong Kong.

The Pentagon confirmed the destroyer was conducting freedom of navigation exercises near the islands “to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law”.

China has lodged a diplomatic complaint with Washington over the event, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang calling on the US to “immediately stop provocative actions that violate China’s sovereignty”.

Mr Geng said the ship’s passing near the Parcel Islands, which China calls the Xisha Islands, without approval “violated ­Chinese laws and international laws” and “severely undermined China’s sovereignty”.

The latest freedom of navigation exercises by the USS Chancellorsville come on top of a separate move by the US last week to send navy ships through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.

The guided missile destroyer USS Stockdale and USNS Pecos, a tanker, sailed through the strait last week, prompting protests from Beijing.

Freedom of navigation exercises by the Chancellorsville are the fourth by the US Navy this year in disputed waters in the ­region following similar passages in July and September.

In late September, a Chinese destroyer came close to colliding with USS Decatur, near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, as it warned the US ship away from the area in an encounter the US Navy described as “unsafe and unprofessional”.

While last week’s events were relatively peaceful, they show an increasing interest by the US in testing the sovereignty in the seas off China. China is in talks with surrounding countries about a code of conduct to handle incidents in disputed waters.

The US and others are concerned about the increasing presence of Chinese infrastructure and military installations in some disputed islands.

Satellite images released recently show China has built a new platform on a remote part of the Paracel Islands, occupied by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, which could be used for military purposes.