Beijing warns US after ship sails by Chinese-built island

Associated Press

BEIJING

A U.S. Navy warship sailed past one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday, in a challenge to Chinese sovereignty claims that drew an angry protest from Beijing, which said the move damaged U.S.-China relations and regional peace.

China’s Foreign Ministry said authorities monitored and warned the USS Lassen as it entered what China claims as a 12-mile territorial limit around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a group of reefs, islets and atolls where the Philippines has competing claims.

The U.S. says it doesn’t take a position on sovereignty over the South China Sea but insists on freedom of navigation and overflight.