WASHINGTON: A US navy warship sailed near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea on Friday, the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing鈥檚 efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, US officials said.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur challenged 鈥渆xcessive maritime claims鈥� near the Paracel Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The latest US patrol, first reported by Reuters, is expected to anger Beijing and could further escalate tensions over the South China Sea. The destroyer sailed within waters claimed by China, close to but not within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits of the islands, the officials said.
The Pentagon said the Decatur 鈥渃onducted this transit in a routine, lawful manner without ship escorts and without incident.鈥� One official said the ship, which sailed near Triton and Woody Islands, was shadowed by three Chinese vessels and that all interactions were safe.
It was the fourth challenge that the United States has made to what it considers overreaching maritime claims by China in the South China Sea in the past year, and the first since May.
China, Washington鈥檚 main strategic rival in Asia, claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. The United States has criticized Beijing鈥檚 build-up of military facilities in the sea and expressed concerns they could be used to restrict free movement.
China has a runway on Woody Island, the site of the largest Chinese presence on the Paracels, and has placed surface-to-air missiles there, according to US officials. Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the Paracels.
In the last three US freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea within the last year, US warships cruised within 12 nautical miles of islands claimed by Beijing. The actions drew angry responses from China, which has accused the United States of stirring up trouble there.
The latest operation comes just after the volatile president of the Philippines announced, during a visit to China, his 鈥渟eparation鈥� from Washington and realignment with Beijing. The Philippines has been a key ally of the United States and a territorial rival of Beijing in the South China Sea. Rodrigo Duterte took office as Philippine president in June.
Duterte鈥檚 announcement on Thursday was a significant turnaround after a tribunal in The Hague ruled that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea in a case brought by the previous Philippine administration and strongly backed by the United States.
But in Washington a person close to the matter said the latest naval operation was not timed for Duterte鈥檚 China visit this week and that planning for the patrol had long been in the works.

RIVAL CLAIMS
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have rival claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing鈥檚 is the largest. It argues it can do what it wants on the islands it claims as they have been Chinese since ancient times.
The last US freedom-of-navigation operation in May went within 12 miles of Fiery Cross reef in the Spratly Islands and China scrambled fighter jets in response.
In January, a US destroyer went within 12 miles of Triton Island, and China called the action 鈥渋rresponsible and extremely dangerous.鈥�
US officials have said the operations will continue despite Beijing鈥檚 protests, but the Obama administration has been criticized in Congress for not conducting them more regularly and robustly.
Greg Poling, a South China Sea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the administration was likely to face further criticism after opting for relatively uncontroversial challenges to China in all of its freedom-of-navigation operations in the past year.
鈥淭hey will have essentially performed the same FONOP, meaning an objection to China鈥檚 demand for prior notification, four times in a year,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hat is not only redundant, but it does nothing to put a spotlight on the other, much more worrying, restrictions China is placing on freedom of navigation.鈥�
China has been placing more serious restrictions on movement, he said, around artificial islands China has built on reefs in the Spratly chain, notably Mischief Reef.