US Navy challenges Chinese claims in South China Sea for second time in a week

A US Navy warship on Saturday challenged Chinese claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement -- the second operation of its kind this week.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold sailed near the Spratly Islands -- known as the Nansha Islands in China -- in the southeastern South China Sea in a so-called "freedom of navigation operation" (FONOP), the 7th Fleet statement said.
The US Navy operation in the island chain where China has built military foritifications on man-made islands challenged "restrictions on innocent passage imposed by the People's Republic of China (PRC), Vietnam, and Taiwan," the statement said.
"In violation of international law, the PRC, Vietnam, and Taiwan purport to require either permission or advance notification before a military vessel engages in 'innocent passage' through the territorial sea of the relevant feature," it added.