A US guided-missile destroyer joined Japanese and Australian warships for weekend drills before heading to India for a separate, five-day exercise, according to the Navy.
Beijing claims the United States is pursuing a “hegemony” in the South China Sea after a Navy guided-missile destroyer steamed near a chain of islands there to dispute what it views as unlawful restrictions.
China's military dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group through the Taiwan Strait this week in the latest move in Beijing's effort to declare the waterway its maritime territory.