US warship sails in disputed South China Sea amid trade tensions

US warship
US warship

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed byChina in the South China Sea on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, a movelikely to anger Beijing at a time of tense ties between the world's two largesteconomies.

The busy waterway is one of a growing number offlashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S.sanctions and Taiwan. Reuters reported on Tuesday that China had denied arequest for a U.S. Navy warship to visit the Chinese port city of Qingdao.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Wayne E. Meyer carried outthe operation, traveling within 12 nautical miles of Fiery Cross and MischiefReefs, Commander Reann Mommsen, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's SeventhFleet, told Reuters.

Mommsen added that the operation was done to "tochallenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governedby international law."

The U.S. military operation comes amid anincreasingly bitter trade war between China and the United States which sharplyescalated on Friday, with both sides leveling more tariffs on each other'sexports.

The U.S. military has a long-standing position thatits operations are carried out throughout the world, including areas claimed byallies, and they are separate from political considerations.

China and the United States have repeatedly tradedbarbs in the past over what Washington says is Beijing's militarization of theSouth China Sea by building military installations on artificial islands andreefs.

China's claims in the South China Sea, through whichabout $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested byBrunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. 

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