A U.S. Navy-guided missile destroyer sailed into waters (SCMP) claimed by China in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday. The move drew a rebuke from Beijing, who accused the United States of a "deliberate provocation." The USS Lassen, completing the first in a series of planned freedom of navigation operations, had approached an artificial island built by China on the Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, where the Chinese government has also constructed other military airstrips (NYT). The naval maneuver comes a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping, and U.S. President Barack Obama failed to reach an agreement during a meeting in Washington on China's territorial claims (Reuters), which are disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and other Asian countries.
