US Navy destroyer to near disputed China islands

A US Navy ship will sail near artificial islands built by China in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, US defence officials have said.

Guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen will breach the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago.

The freedom of navigation operation represents a serious challenge to China's territorial claims.

The move will anger Beijing which claims most of the South China Sea.

Other countries in South East Asia have competing claims for the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal, which are thought to have resource-rich waters around them.

But the reefs, which were submerged, were turned into islands by China after a massive dredging project in 2014.

International maritime law allows countries to claim ownership of the 12-nautical mile area surrounding natural islands but does not allow nations to claim ownership of submerged features that have been raised by human intervention.

It is unclear whether Chinese officials were made aware of the US plans.

But a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington said that freedom of navigation "should not be used as excuse to flex muscle and undermine other countries' sovereignty and security".

A senior US defence official told Reuters news agency the warship began its mission early on Tuesday local time near the reefs and would spend several hours there.

The ship would probably be accompanied by a US Navy P-8A surveillance plane and a P-3 surveillance plane, according to the unnamed official, speaking to US media.

Additional patrols could follow in the coming weeks, the official added.

Washington believes Beijing is constructing military facilities, designed to reinforce its disputed claim to most of the region - a major shipping zone.

China says its land reclamation and construction work in the South China Sea is legal.