Officials of the United States Defence say the US Navy has sent a Guided-Missile Destroyer within 12 nautical miles of the artificial Islands built by China in the South China Sea.
The USS Lassen breached the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago.
The freedom of navigation operation represents a serious challenge to China’s territorial claims.
Beijing’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the patrol, describing it as “illegal”.
In a statement, the ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, described the operation as a “threat to China’s sovereignty”.
He added that Beijing would “resolutely respond to any country’s deliberate provocative actions”.
However, the US Defence Department spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said “the United States was conducting routine operations in the South China Sea in accordance with international law”.
