Beijing accuses US of ‘deliberate provocations’ in South China Sea as warship passes Spratly Islands

PLA Southern Theatre Command spokesman says USS Montgomery harboured ‘evil intentions’ on Lunar New Year voyage into contested waters

US 7th Fleet says warship challenged restrictions imposed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan

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The US Navy says the USS Montgomery was asserting “navigational rights” in the Spratlys. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00pm, 28 Jan 2020Updated: 2:07pm, 17 Feb 2020

The Chinese military lashed out at the United States for “deliberate provocations” during the Lunar New Year holiday after a US warship passed by the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Saturday.

The statement followed a series of incidents in which Southeast Asian nations have made clear their contesting claims to islands in those waters.

China sent air and sea patrols to “track, monitor, verify and identify” the USS Montgomery when it sailed through the Spratlys, according to Senior Colonel Li Huamin, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theatre Command, on Tuesday.

“The US ship made deliberate provocations, harbouring evil intentions, during China’s traditional new year festival, in a naked act of navigational hegemony,” Li said.

Li said China claimed “indisputable” sovereignty over the South China Sea and its islands, and no matter what “tricks and provocations” the US made, they were a waste of effort.

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