Chinese military ‘warns off’ US destroyer from vicinity of Scarborough Shoal

A US destroyer has entered disputed waters in the South China Sea, less than two days after an apparent collision involving a Chinese coastguard vessel and a PLA Navy ship while the former was pursuing a Philippine coastguard vessel in the area.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command said on Wednesday that the USS Higgins, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, had “illegally entered China’s territorial waters around Huangyan Island without the approval of the Chinese government”.

The PLA Navy “has tracked, monitored, and warned the vessel to leave”, the Southern Theatre Command said in a statement.

It also criticised the US military for “seriously violating China’s sovereignty and security, undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and violating international law and basic norms of international relations”.

The US destroyer entered the disputed waters near Scarborough Shoal, known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines or Huangyan Island in China, where the collision on Monday is said to have occurred.

Clashes involving Chinese and Philippine coastguard vessels in this area have increased in recent years.