TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Navy on Tuesday (Nov. 29) took the unusual step of refuting claims by China that it had illegally patrolled near an island chain in the South China Sea.

The U.S. 7th Fleet said the USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) had cruised past the Spratly Island chain (Nansha Islands) that day as part of a "freedom of navigation operation." It added the cruiser asserted navigational rights and freedoms in what it claimed to be the "excessive claim area" in a manner that was "consistent with international law."

Beijing-based think-tank, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) on Tuesday, tweeted a map that claimed to show the Chancellorsville sailing near the Chinese artificial island at Fiery Cross Reef as well as a U.S. P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft. It speculated that the P-8A "might provide reconnaissance for the ship."

(Twitter, SCSPI image)

Following the Chancellorsville's mission, the PLA Southern Theater issued a statement claiming the vessel had entered its territorial waters and that its naval forces had driven it away.

"The Chancellorsville illegally intruded into the waters adjacent to China’s Nansha islands and reefs without the approval of the Chinese Government, and organized naval and air forces in the Chinese southern theater of the People’s Liberation Army to follow and monitor and give a warning to drive them away. The U.S. military’s actions have seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security, which is another ironclad proof of its hegemony in navigation and militarization of the South China Sea, and fully demonstrates that the United States is an out-and-out security risk maker in the South China Sea."

In an unusual move, the U.S. 7th Fleet issued a rebuttal saying that the PLA Southern Theater's comments are the "latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and assert its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims" to the South China Sea. It added that, "As long as some countries continue to claim and assert limits on rights that exceed their authority under international law, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all."

Regarding China's claims that it had driven the Chancellorsville out of its territorial waters in the South China Sea, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said, "I know that there has been some reporting that China essentially ejected our ship from the area. That is not true."

He then reiterated that, "Again, we will continue to sail, fly and operate wherever international law allows."