FILE PHOTO: US Navy personnel raise their flag during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Philippines 2014, a U.S.-Philippines military exercise, aboard USS John S. McCain in the South China Sea near waters claimed by China June 28, 2014. © REUTERS / Noel Celis
Business Insider: A US Navy destroyer challenged China's sweeping South China Sea claims a day after sailing past Taiwan
* The US Navy destroyer USS John S. McCain on Friday challenged China's claims in the South China Sea.
* The move, which frustrated Beijing, followed a Taiwan Strait transit by the McCain on Thursday.
* Biden said on Thursday the US would confront China's "coercive" and "aggressive" actions.
A US warship sailed on Friday near Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea, challenging Beijing's sweeping territorial claims for the first time under the Biden administration.
The Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands during a routine freedom-of-navigation operation (FONOP) to "assert navigational rights and freedoms," Lt. Joe Keiley, a 7th Fleet spokesman, said in a statement Friday.
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More News On A US Destroyer Sailing By Disputed Islands Claimed By China In The South China Sea
Destroyer USS John McCain Conducts FONOP; Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in the South China Sea -- USNI News
USS John S. McCain demonstrates near South China Sea islands a day after Taiwan Strait passage -- Stars and Stripes
US Destroyer Conducts FONOP in South China Sea -- The Diplomat
US sends warship past Chinese-controlled South China Sea islands in Biden administration first -- RT
