Chinese warships warned a U. S. Navy destroyer to leave after the ship sailed less than 12 nautical miles away from a man-made island in the South China Sea, a Chinese defense official said Thursday.<\/b>
\nA U. S. Navy destroyer in the vicinity of a man-made island in the South China Sea was told to leave the area by Chinese warships, a Chinese defense official said Thursday.
Ren Guoqiang, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, said China sternly warned the U. S. over its patrol near the disputed territory and that the moves were \u201cnot conducive to peace and stability\u201d in the region, Reuters reported .
The destroyer was less than 12 nautical miles from a man-made island, he said.
The USS Dewey, a guided-missile destroyer, made the passage near the Mischief Reef. The patrol was the first \u201cfreedom of navigation operation\u201d to occur near a Chinese artificial island since President Trump took office in January, a U. S. defense official told Fox News.
Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment to the newspaper on the operation.
\u201cWe operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea, \u201d he said in a statement to The Wall Journal Street . \u201cWe operate in accordance with international law.\u201d He added that the patrols are \u201cnot about any one country, or any one body of water.\u201d
Fox News\u2019 Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

\n

Similarity rank: 6.4<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: -2.1<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

TW posts: 17<\/div>\n

TW reposts: 0<\/div>\n

TW likes: 1<\/div>\n

TW sentiment: -10<\/div>\n<\/div>\n