US Warship Challenges China’s Claims in South China Sea

USS Chafee, a US Navy destroyer sails about 150 miles (241 km) north of the island of Oahu, Hawaii on July 18, 2012. The Chafee recently conducted a freedom-of-navigation exercise challenging the Chinese regime’s expansive claims to international waters in the South China Sea. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry

U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Chafee, challenged the Chinese regime’s expansive claims in the South China Sea on Tuesday with a freedom-of-navigation exercise that saw it sail near islands Beijing claims as its own.

The Chinese regime dispatched a frigate, two J-11B fighters, and one helicopter and claimed through state run media to have driven the destroyer off.