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The US Navy said its guided-missile destroyer USS Milius conducted a navigational rights and freedoms mission in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands on Monday.
- The US Navy said the operation was consistent with international law
- China said it would continue military drills as Taiwan reported sighting 59 planes
- Last month China said the destroyer entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands
The announcement came as China's military simulated precision strikes against Taiwan in military drills around the island amid growing tensions between China and the US in the region.
The US Navy said the operation by the destroyer was consistent with international law.
"At the conclusion of the operation, USS Milius exited the excessive claim area and continued operations in the South China Sea," a US Navy statement said.
"This freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea."
Last month, China and the US sparred over the movement of the USS Milius, which China said entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands.
China claims vast swathes of the area that overlap with exclusive economic zones of various countries, including the Philippines.
Trillions of dollars in trade flow every year through the waterway.
China announced the three days of drills on Saturday, after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with US House of Representative Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said the aircraft carrier the Shandong also took part in combat patrols, and showed fighters taking off from its deck.
Taiwan has been tracking the Shandong since last week in the Pacific Ocean.
Japan's defence ministry said on Sunday the Shandong conducted air operations in waters close to Japan's Okinawan islands.
Jet fighters and helicopters took off and landed on the carrier 120 times between Friday and Sunday, with the carrier along with three other warships and a support vessel coming to within 230 kilometres of Japan's Miyako island, the defence ministry said.
China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under Beijing's control.
The Taiwan defence ministry on Monday said it spotted 59 Chinese military planes near Taiwan.
The ministry said that, among them, 39 Chinese planes crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered Taiwan's air defence zones.
China's military continued drills around Taiwan on Monday, state media reported.
Reuters