China said Wednesday it warned and “drove away” a U.S. destroyer that had sailed near the coast of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea — one of the most valuable shipping lanes globally. The destroyer, USS Higgins, “illegally entered China’s territorial waters off Huangyan Island without the approval of the Chinese government,” the country’s defense ministry said, according to a CNBC translation of the statement in Mandarin. Huangyan Island is the name China uses to refer to the shoal, which has been the subject of a maritime dispute between China and the Philippines. China accused the U.S. military of “seriously” infringing its sovereignty, adding that America’s actions “severely undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea, and violate international law and basic norms governing international relations.” The USS Higgins is a warship with the U.S. Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan. Sarah Merrill, a spokesperson for the fleet told CNBC that the USS Higgins was conducting a “freedom of navigation operation” in accordance with international law. “China’s statement about this mission is false … The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here. Nothing China says otherwise will deter us,” Merrill added.

Full report : China said the U.S. destroyer USS Higgins “illegally entered China’s territorial waters off Huangyan Island without the approval of the Chinese government.”