Asia (bbabo.net), - The press service of the US Seventh Fleet denied the information about the violation of China's sovereignty by the US missile cruiser Chancellorsville. According to the American side, the ship acted in accordance with international law. This was announced today, November 29, TASS reports.

“China's claim about this mission is false. The cruiser Chancellorsville conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP), in accordance with international law, after which it moved to normal operation in waters where the principle of freedom of the high seas applies. The United States defends the right of every nation to fly, sail and act in accordance with international law, as Chancellorsville did,” the press service said in a statement.

Earlier Tuesday, the Chinese military said that Chancellorsville had intruded into the waters adjacent to the Nansha (Spratly) Islands in the South China Sea without permission from the Chinese government. Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Zone Combat Command of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA), pointed out that such actions by the US military are irrefutable proof of the US desire for navigational hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea.

The territorial affiliation of individual islands in the South China Sea, on the shelf of which significant hydrocarbon reserves were discovered, has been a dispute between China and several countries in the region for several decades. These are the Xisha archipelago (Paracel Islands), the Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan Islands (Scarborough Reef).

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