An American Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of one of the Parcel Islands controlled by China’s military on Sunday, The Financial Times reported. “This operation challenged attempts by the three claimants, China, Taiwan and Vietnam, to restrict navigation rights and freedoms around the features they claim by policies that require prior permission or notification of transit within territorial seas,” the Pentagon said in a statement. China’s foreign ministry criticized the patrol as having “violated relevant Chinese laws by entering Chinese territorial waters without permission”. Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the US Pacific Command, this week said such operations would continue with increasing scope and complexity.
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