The Chinese military has accused a U.S. warship of illegally intruding into waters near the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea.
A spokesman for the Chinese regime’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the USS Charleston, a littoral combat ship, “illegally intruded” into waters near Sabina Shoal—which the Chinese regime refers to as Xianbin Jiao—in the early hours of Tuesday, “without approval from the Chinese government.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views almost all of the South China Sea as its own territory, despite claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Brunei.
A military spokesperson, in a post on the X account of the China Military Bugle, the official account of Beijing’s armed forces, said it holds “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands—which it refers to as Nansha Qundao—and its adjacent waters, and said the U.S. side should “immediately cease” its activities there.
The spokesperson said the PLA Navy’s Southern Theater Command had “dispatched forces to track and monitor the U.S. vessel.”
A Philippine military spokesperson said USS Charleston “did not trespass into ‘Chinese territory’,” adding that it did not need permission for “lawful transit through international waters.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the U.S. Department of War for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The U.S. Navy has in the past referred to “freedom of navigation operations,” as most of the South China Sea is viewed by the United States as an international shipping lane.
Sabina Shoal, situated approximately 75 nautical miles west of Palawan, falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under international law.
In September 2024, Manila confirmed its commitment to maintaining a continuous presence at Sabina Shoal.
The Philippines is an ally of the United States, which has supported its legal position on the islands.
The CCP has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Philippines’ presence in the area, which it calls Xianbin Reef, or Xianbin Jiao.
In December 2025, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative stated that the CCP has built several new facilities with intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities on its artificial islands—Fiery Cross, Mischief, and Subi reefs—in the Spratly Islands.
The Philippines summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan on Monday to protest remarks suggesting Beijing could easily defeat the country militarily.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro conveyed the Philippine government’s “serious concern and strong objection” to Jing’s remarks—made on Oct. 15—which the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said conveyed “a threat of the use of force.”
On March 16, the Philippines stated that it rejected Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over the entire South China Sea and denied the Chinese Embassy’s claim that a Filipino diplomat had conceded 36 years ago that the disputed Scarborough Shoal was not part of its territory.
“China must be reminded that maritime and territorial claims are subject to established international legal procedures and dispute settlement mechanisms, not through unilateral proclamations or social media posts,” Rogelio Villanueva, a spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said at the time.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, Taiwan’s coast guard said a Chinese coast guard ship had entered restricted waters near the Pratas Islands, which are claimed by Taipei.
A Taiwan coast guard vessel, the “Taichung,” was dispatched to warn away the Chinese ship.
The Taiwanese authorities said both ships exchanged political messages.
The Chinese ship broadcast messages deriding the “so-called Republic of China” and saying it does not exist, while the Taiwanese ship replied that “the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent country.”
The Republic of China, founded in January 1912, was the name of the Kuomintang-ruled regime that was defeated on the Chinese mainland by the communists in 1949 and withdrew to Taiwan, and it remains the official name of the island.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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