The U.S. Navy said the ship “was conducting routine operations in international waters ... consistent with international law.”
The patrols come days after Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called the situation in the South China Sea increasingly “dire.”
China has stood by its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, clashing with its neighbors and drawing in the U.S., Manila’s treaty ally.
Positioning Marines forward in the Indo-Pacific is part of the Corps’ plan for countering a potential adversary as technologically adept as China.
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