US denies China claim it drove away American destroyer

The United States denied a Chinese claim on March 23 that Chinese forces drove away a US guided-missile destroyer that had entered Chinese territorial waters, VOA reports.

Tian Junli, a spokesman for China's Southern Theatre Command, said the USS Milius intruded into waters around the Paracel Islands “undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea”.

The US Navy 7th Fleet rejected China’s statement as false, saying the destroyer was “conducting routine operations in the South China Sea and was not expelled”.

"The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows," a 7th Fleet statement said.

Tensions between China and the United States have been growing in the region.