The Pentagon on Tuesday denied Chinese Defense Ministry claims that one of its naval vessels drove a U.S. destroyer out of the South China Sea during a freedom of navigation operation last week.
“No one runs a navy ship out of anywhere,” a senior defense official told the Washington Free Beacon. “This whole notion that we got run off is not true.”
The official was responding to a statement issued by Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian who said the USS Hopper was confronted during the passage near Scarborough Shoal, in the Spratly Islands, by the PLA navy missile destroyer Huangshan that took action to “drive it away.”
The senior official said the Chinese hailed the Hopper by radio but there was never any instance when the Hopper changed course.
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