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Beijing accuses US of threatening peace and stability after warship passes disputed South China Sea reef
- Chinese military says the USS Gabrielle Giffords entered waters near Second Thomas Shoal, violating ‘China’s sovereignty and security’
- The US ‘severely undermined regional peace and stability’, China’s Southern Theatre Command says
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The Chinese military described the United States as “the biggest threat to peace and stability” in the South China Sea after an American warship sailed close to a disputed reef on Monday.
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The People’s Liberation Army said a US ship had entered waters near the Second Thomas Shoal “illegally” and without its permission. It did not say which laws it thought were being breached.
“The United States has deliberately disrupted the South China Sea, seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, severely undermined regional peace and stability, and seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations,” the PLA’s Southern Theatre Command said.
“This fully illustrates that the US is the biggest threat to peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
The USS Gabrielle Giffords, an Independence-class littoral combat ship, conducted combined operations with the Philippine Navy in the South China Sea a few days before its voyage past the reef, which has been at the centre of recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels.
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Philippine troops have been stationed at the shoal since the Philippines deliberately grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a second world warship, there in 1999.
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