China Accuses U.S. of 'Ill Intentions' in South China Sea

(Bloomberg) -- China’s armed forces accused the U.S. of “ill intentions” in the South China Sea after an American warship entered waters near the contested Spratly Islands last week.

“The U.S. ship’s deliberate provocation during the traditional lunar Chinese New Year festival, which harbored ill intentions, is a naked act of navigational hegemony,” Senior Colonel Li Huamin, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s southern command, said in a statement Tuesday. “China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea and its islands, and no matter how the U.S. deliberately schemes, comes up with new tricks, provokes and stirs up trouble, its efforts will be fruitless.”

The USS Montgomery, an Independence-class combat ship, was tracked by PLA forces on Jan. 25 sailing in an area adjacent to where China controls a man-made island without Beijing’s authorization.

China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines each claim sovereignty over some or all of the Spratly Islands.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-accuses-us-of-ill-intentions-in-south-china-sea/ar-BBZqlOp?li=BBnbcA1