Beijing condemns ’vile’ US Navy for disrupting South China Sea drill amid rising tensions

Beijing condemns ’vile’ US Navy for disrupting South China Sea drill amid rising tensions. CHINA has condemned the US Navy’s latest actions as “very vile in nature“ amid rising tensions in the South China Sea. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Wu Qian, a spokesman for China’s defence ministry, criticised the US for disrupting a military drill. The USS Mustin, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, has been shadowing a People’s Liberation Army aircraft carrier group for nearly three weeks. He added that the destroyer’s “persistent close-range reconnaissance” threatened “the safety of vessels and crew.” Mr Wu described the USS Mustin’s actions as “very vile in nature. PLA warships reportedly “warned and expelled” the USS Mustin when the ship got too close. Mr Wu urged the US to “rein in its front-line forces” in order to avoid “similar dangerous incidents” in the future. In response to the defence ministry’s statement, a US Navy official told Newsweek: