China has lambasted the United States after a U.S. Navy warship sailed near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday. The islands are under China's control.

The US' move was seen by analysts as the latest in its attempts to challenge China's "excessive maritime claims" in the disputed sea and counter Beijing's efforts to limit freedom of navigation patrols in the area.

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"The latest US move in entering Chinese territorial waters is a seriously illegal act, and provocative," China's defense ministry said on its website on Friday, October 21. Beijing added that it would file a diplomatic protest over the US Embassy regarding the incident.

USS Decatur

According to China's defense ministry, two Chinese vessels attempted to warn off the US missile destroyer, USS Decatur, after it entered Chinese waters near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands, a group of islets, reefs, and shoals also known as Xisha in Chinese.

The Paracel Islands are being claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

China's foreign ministry has slammed the US warship's illegal entry into the country's territory saying the action "seriously violated" China's sovereignty over the islands and compromised the security interests of Beijing in the area.

It also said that the US action was provocative and had broken Chinese laws as well as international law.

Pentagon

Officials from the Pentagon defended the US' latest action saying the USS Decatur sailed close to but not within the 12-nautical mile territorial limits of the islands.

"The USS Decatur conducted this transit in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident," US officials said.

China is laying claim to almost the entire South China Sea through which $5trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes through each year.

The latest US action in the region is the fourth attempt that the US had made to counter China's maritime claims in the disputed strategic waterway through freedom of navigation patrols since last year.

The US had repeatedly said that it would continue to sail and fly over the South China Sea region and other places that international law allows.

TagsUSS Decatur, Paracel Islands, South China Sea, Freedom of navigation patrols, strategic waterway, diplomatic protest, Washington, Beijing, Pentagon, china