A US Navy warship has sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, US officials say, the first such challenge to Beijing in the strategic waterway since President Donald Trump took office.
The officials said the USS Dewey travelled close to the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbours.
The Pentagon gave no details of the mission.
China says its warships warned the US ship and it has lodged "stern representations" with the US.
The US patrol, the first of its kind since October, marked the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing's efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, and comes as Trump is seeking China's co-operation to rein in ally North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Territorial waters are generally defined by UN convention as extending at most 12 nautical miles from a state's coastline.
The Australian government is backing the US warship's right to sail in the area, with Defence Minister Marise Payne saying it "supports all countries in exercising their rights to sail or fly through any area according to international law".
"Unilateral actions by claimant states to change the facts on the ground by building artificial islands in disputed areas and in militarising contested features are provocative and destabilising for the entire region," she said in a statement on Thursday.
"We ask all claimants to resolve their disputes peacefully and through negotiation."
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a briefing earlier on Thursday that two Chinese guided-missile warships had warned the US vessel to leave the waters.
"The US side's errant ways have caused damage to the improving situation in the South China Sea and are not conducive to peace and stability," Ren said.
He was referring to a recent of easing of tension between China and other claimants, in particular the Philippines.
One US official said it was the first operation near a land feature that was included in a 2016 ruling against China by an arbitration court in The Hague.
The US has criticised China's construction of islands and build-up of military facilities in the sea, and is concerned they could be used to restrict free movement.
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