The Chinese military on Saturday said it expelled U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper after it illegally trespassed into Chinese territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command has deployed its naval and air forces to "track, monitor and warn away" the vessel, said Senior Colonel Tian Junli, the spokesperson of the theater command, in a statement.
According to Tian, the U.S. has "severely jeopardized China's sovereignty and security," and the illegal entry serves as "ironclad evidence" of Washington's pursuit of "navigation hegemony" and "militarization of the South China Sea."
The spokesperson added that the theater command will maintain a high alert status and take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and the peace and stability of the region.
I want to see American media's reaction in an alternate reality where China has nuclear capable submarines and destroyer ships prowling the Gulf of Mexico because Cuba is their ally so they're allowed to park their fleet there.
pretty obnoxious that america only knows how to do gulf of tonkin bullshit
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/25/WS6561db27a31090682a5f0129.html
PLA warns off US warship near Xisha Islands
By Jiang Chenglong | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-11-25 19:31
The Chinese military warned off a United States warship that illegally entered China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea on Saturday, a spokesman for the People's Liberation Army said.
Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the PLA's Southern Theater Command, said on Saturday that the guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper illegally intruded into China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands on Saturday without the approval of the Chinese government.
The theater command has organized air and naval forces to follow and monitor it, and drove it away according to law, he said.
Tian criticized the US action as a serious violation of China's sovereignty and security, and "another iron proof" that the US is pursuing "navigation hegemony" and creating "militarization of the South China Sea."
He said that it fully showed that the US is a "security risk maker in the South China Sea" and the "biggest destroyer" of peace and stability in the region.
The spokesman warned that the troops of the theater command will remain on high alert at all times and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as the peace and stability in the South China Sea.