Navy holds joint exercise in South China Sea, sparking China to criticize U.S.

The United States is conducting a joint exercise in the strategic South China Sea with two Navy aircraft carrier groups, drawing backlash Monday from China. 

The Navy said over the weekend that the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan and their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises “designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations,” according to the Associated Press. 

On Monday, China foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exercises were performed “totally out of ulterior motives” and undermined stability in the area.

“Against such a backdrop, the U.S. deliberately dispatched massive forces to conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea to flex its military muscle,” Zhao said at a daily briefing, the wire service also reports.

China claims almost all of the sea and routinely objects to any action by the U.S. military in the region. Five other governments claim all or part of the sea, through which approximately $5 trillion in goods are shipped every year.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions, according to the wire service.