This file photo, taken on October 21, 2016, shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur operating in the South China Sea as part of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). (By AFP)

The Chinese military has warned a US warship to leave after it illegally entered the disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Senior Colonel Li Huamin, a spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, said on Tuesday that the warship entered the territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea without China’s permission.

The spokesman said the Command deployed air and navy forces to monitor and verify the ship, and warned it to leave.

The US move has severely violated the relevant international law and was a serious infringement of China’s sovereignty, Li said, calling on US to stop military operations that are not conducive to regional security and peace and stability.

The South China Sea serves as a gateway to global sea routes, through which about 3.4 trillion dollars of trade passes each year. Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims with China to parts of the sea.

The United States, which sides with Beijing’s rivals in the maritime dispute, routinely sends warships and warplanes to the South China Sea to assert what it calls its right to freedom of navigation, ratcheting up tensions among the regional countries.

Last Saturday, Washington accused Beijing of bullying behavior in the South China Sea and said it is concerned by the country’s provocative actions aimed at offshore oil and gas developments in the disputed waters.

A day earlier, a Chinese government survey ship was tagging an exploration vessel operated by Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas in the disputed waters, Reuters reported, quoting three regional security sources.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the ship was conducting normal activities and stated that US officials were maligning Beijing.

SOURCE: PRESS TV