'Sovereignty violated, security undermined': China fumes after USS Higgins destroyer 'intrudes' into South China Sea

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China has accused the United States of violating its sovereignty and undermining its security after a US warship entered the waters off the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, which China claims and calls Huangyan Island. The international community largely recognises the Philippines' claim on the island.
The photograph shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins conducting an independent deployer certification exercise off the coast of Southern California on April 30, 2015. (Photo: US Navy)
China on Wednesday said that a US warship violated its sovereignty and undermined its security by 'intruding' into its territorial waters in the South China Sea.
China said that USS Higgins, a destroyer part of the Japan-headquartered 7th Fleet of the US Navy, intruded into its territorial waters off the 'Huangyan Island' and was driven by Chinese navy. The United States has rejected the accusation.
The navy mobilised forces to monitor, track, warn, and drive away USS Higgins, spokesperson Senior Colonel He Tiesheng said in a statement in in Chinese.
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'Huangyan Island' is what China calls the Scarborough Shoal, which is disputed between China and the Philippines. Much of the international community, including the United States and India, has recognised the Philippines' claim to the island, which considers it to be a part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
'The path of the US warship seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea, and contravened basic principles of international law and international relations. The Southern Theater Command Navy will maintain high alert at all times, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and regional peace and stability,' the Chinese statement further said.
US rejects China's charge
The United States has rejected China's version of events and the accusation and said USS Higgins was sailing in line with the international law.
The USS Higgins was conducting a 'freedom of navigation operation' in accordance with international law, Sarah Merrill, a spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, told CNBC.
'China's statement about this mission is false…The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as USS Higgins did here. Nothing China says otherwise will deter us,' Merrill further said.
World rejects China's claims on Scarborough Shoal
China lays claim to Scarborough Shoal, which it calls Huangyan Island, as part of its broader claims to nearly the entire South China Sea on the basis of its self-claimed maritime border based on self-written 'nine dash lines'.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) rejected Chinese claims to the South China Sea and the Scarborough Shoal in 2016 under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The PCA ruled that there was no legal basis to 'nine dash lines' and territorial claims arising from it.
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The PCA further held that China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights in its EEZ by interfering with fishing and petroleum exploration and building artificial islands.
The United States, India, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), and the European Union (EU) have supported the PCA ruling, essentially supporting the Philippines' claim on Scarborough Shoal.