U.S. Navy Fires Back on China Accusations Of ‘Violating Its Sovereignty’ In South China Sea

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday rejected China’s claim that it had “tracked and dispelled” a U.S. warship from waters near Spratly Islands in the South China Sea that China claims almost in its entirety. Senior Col. Tian Junli, spokesman of the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, said in a press statement that earlier in the day the U.S. Navy’s guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville “trespassed into the waters adjacent to China’s Nansha (Spratly) islands and reefs.” The Southern Theater Command also released a map purportedly showing the location of the U.S. warship near Fiery Cross, an artificial island that…