China says it warned off US warship in Paracel Islands. American navy differs | South China Morning Post

The Chinese and US militaries have exchanged sharp words after an American warship sailed through the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said that its air and naval forces had warned off the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold after it entered the chain, known in China as the Xisha Islands and claimed by Beijing, Taipei and Hanoi. However, the US Navy denied that it had been warned off. The PLA said that the American ship had entered China’s territorial waters, without providing a precise track of its passage. It issued a statement…