China threatens consequences over US warship’s actions

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — China is threatening “serious consequences” after the U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claims was a violation of its sovereignty and security. The warning comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States in the region, as Washington pushes back at Beijing’s growingly assertive posture in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway it claims virtually in its entirety. The U.S. 7th Fleet said Friday that the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer had sailed near the Paracel Islands as part of a “freedom of navigation operation.”