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Beijing condemned the mission of the guided-missile destroyer USS 'Chafee,' which on Tuesday sailed within 16 nautical miles of the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, within the framework of a so-called "freedom of navigation"operation.See also: US sends missile destroyer to challenge Chinese maritime claims
"In the face of repeated provocation by the US forces, the Chinese military will further strengthen preparation for combat at sea and in the air and improve the defenses to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security interests," China's Defense Ministry said in a statement, quoted by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
The guided-missile Type 054A frigate 'Huangshan,' two J-11B fighter jets and one Z-8 helicopter were sent to identify the US vessel and make it leave the waters.
The incident with the USS 'Chafee' would affect trust between the militaries of the two countries, the ministry stated, adding that further operations of such nature might trigger "unwanted incidents."
Comment: The Kurds are more or less Western puppets and we know the case is the same for ISIS. Things are wrapping up in Syria. The US still wants its pound of flesh, likely through the settlement of a Kurdish state. The talk about the US initially declining the agreement sounds like the US was just putting on a show (or perhaps it wanted ISIS to remain in Raqqa a bit longer) because in the end it did not want Raqqa to freed by Syrian forces with Russian support.