Special to WorldTribune.com

China said the United States engaged in a “deliberate provocation” when it sent a guided missile destroyer close to one of Beijing’s artificial islands in the South China Sea.

The USS Lassen on Oct. 26 sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands chain.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Oct. 27 that the Lassen “illegally entered into the waters of China’s Spratly Islands. The action taken by the U.S. warship has threatened China’s sovereignty and security interest, and has put the safety of personnel on the reefs in danger.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang added that “China will not condone any action that undermines China’s security.”

The Defense Ministry reported that two Chinese ships, the Lanzhou missile destroyer and Taizhou patrol boat, warned the American vessel to leave the disputed waters. The Pentagon said the Lassen, accompanied by surveillance aircraft, completed its mission without incident.

Recent satellite images have shown that China has built Subi Reef into an island and has begun construction on a runway that could accommodate military aircraft. Observers say Beijing has already completed another such runway on Fiery Cross Reef, and is working on a third on another artificial island.

Chinese military spokesman Col. Yang Yujun called the incident with the Lassen “an abuse of freedom of navigation. (The U.S. action) threatened China’s territorial rights and security, endangered the safety of personnel and facilities on the artificial island as well as that of fishery workers, and harmed regional peace and stability.”

The South China Sea operation was “routine” and complied with international law, a U.S. defense official told CNN.

“We will fly, sail and operate anywhere in the world that international law allows,” the official said. “U.S. Freedom of Navigation operations are global in scope and executed against a wide range of excessive maritime claims, irrespective of the coastal state advancing the excessive claim.”

  China warns U.S. after warship sails near S. China Sea artificial island, Lu Kang, Spratly Islands, Subi Reef, WorldTribune.com