BEIJING, May 10 -- "The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) illegally trespassed into the territorial waters of China's Xisha Islands without the Chinese government's permission on May 10, and the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to track, monitor and warn it off in accordance with the law and regulations," said Air Force Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson for the PLA Southern Theater Command, in a written statement on Friday.
He slammed that the US action has seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, adding that this is yet another irrefutable evidence of the US 'navigation hegemony' and 'militarization of the South China Sea', and fully demonstrates that the US is nothing but the 'security risk maker in the South China Sea' and the 'biggest destroyer' of peace and stability in the South China Sea.
"The troops of the PLA Southern Theater Command will always stay on high alert and resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and security, as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea," stressed the spokesperson in the end.