A US Navy aircraft carrier has conducted exercises in the hotly-disputed South China Sea, reports Reuters.
The US navy said on Saturday that a strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan carried out flight operations and high-end maritime stability operations and exercises in the area.
“Integration with our joint partners is essential to ensuring joint force responsiveness and lethality, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US Navy Commander Joshua Fagan said.
The drill comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and China.
Washington has criticised Beijing over its coronavirus response and accused it of taking advantage of the pandemic to push territorial claims in the contested South China Sea and elsewhere.
The US has long opposed China’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea and has regularly sent warships through the strategic waterway.
Beijing has always opposed such exercises, saying Washington’s rejection of its claims in the South China Sea has heightened tension and undermined stability in the region.
China claims nine-tenths of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which some 3 trillion US Dollars of trade passes each year.
Malaysia, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and the Philippines have competing claims in the region.
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