The U.S. Navy dismissed a protest lodged by Beijing concerning a “freedom of navigation operation” in which the guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville sailed near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The U.S. maintains that the ship stayed within international waters, while China insists that virtually the entire South China Sea lies within its territorial waters and the ship “seriously violated” its territory. The Chinese government claims that it drove the ship away with its own naval and air forces, but the Navy and Pentagon dispute the nature of the ship’s departure from the area.
