In the first incident since Biden's inauguration

Washington denies Beijing responded to an American destroyer in the South China Sea

The US destroyer USS John McCain.

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The US Navy denied, in a statement, what Beijing announced that it had attacked an American destroyer in a disputed area in the South China Sea, in the first incident since President Joe Biden assumed his duties.

China had announced that its navy had ordered a US warship to leave the region.

The Chinese military said that the US destroyer USS John McCain entered the "territorial waters of the Sheesha Islands without permission," referring to the islands known as the Paracel Islands, the small archipelago of small atolls.

The Chinese army added, in a brief statement, that "the navy and air forces monitored the situation closely and ordered (the American destroyer) to leave the region," condemning the United States for "seriously violating Chinese sovereignty and threatening regional peace."

But the spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, Lieutenant James Adam, said that the destroyer John McCain "was never expelled from the territory of any other country."

He added that "the American destroyer carried out this operation, which falls within the framework of freedom of navigation, in accordance with international law, and then continued its normal operations in international waters."

And Beijing condemned the destroyer's crossing at the seaport that separates Taiwan from mainland China.

US ships usually use this strait, infuriating China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

Beijing asserts its sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea islands, and complains about US operations in the region, which is an arena for a power struggle with Washington.

It considers the sailing of foreign ships in these waters a violation of its sovereignty, while the United States and other countries see that this region is international waters, and therefore open to all.

Neighboring countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are objecting to China's claims in the region, which is a major international trade route.

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