How USS Hopper Compares to China's Warships After Sea Confrontation

 

As China invests in its warships, tensions between Washington and Beijing in the South China Sea are focusing more attention onto how the two nations' naval forces match up.

Army Southern Theater Command said it had deployed its naval and air forces to "track, monitor and warn away" a U.S. destroyer in the disputed South China Sea, according to Reuters.

The U.S. Navy said the USS Hopper had "asserted navigational rights in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law," before carrying on with operations. The Paracels are a collection of coral islands that are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Beijing, Taipei and Hanoi all need "permission or advance notification before a military vessel or warship engages in 'innocent passage' through their territorial sea, in violation of international law," the U.S. Navy said.