Beijing complained to Washington on Thursday after the US Navy conducted its first freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea under the Trump administration.
The US move comes as President Donald Trump urges China to ratchet up the pressure on North Korea to rein in its missile and nuclear programmes. Some critics had accused the Trump administration of easing pressure on Beijing over the South China Sea to get them to co-operate on Pyongyang.
“We operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily basis, including in the South China Sea,” said Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. “We operate in accordance with international law. We fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. Freedom of navigation is not about any one country, or any one body of water.”