China says navy tracked USS Charleston near Sabina Shoal

China says its navy tracked USS Charleston near Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea on 20 October 2026, drawing a rejection of Beijing’s territorial claim from the Philippine military. Archive photograph: USS Charleston conducts flight operations in the South China Sea on 5 February 2023. This image does not show the reported Sabina Shoal encounter. Photo: U.S. Navy / Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Serianni, public domain. Official image source. The account places the US littoral combat ship near a disputed feature in the Spratly Islands. The encounter is reported by Reuters and USNI News; GM247 News has not independently verified the ship’s route. What China says happened at Sabina Shoal The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command said Chinese forces followed and monitored Charleston early on Tuesday. Beijing accused the vessel of entering nearby waters without permission and urged Washington to stop such activities. Those statements describe China’s position on the encounter. They do not establish that the US ship breached international law. The wider Spratly Islands are subject to competing claims, as Anadolu’s report explains. Philippines disputes Beijing’s account A Philippine military spokesperson rejected the suggestion that Charleston had trespassed into Chinese territory, Reuters reported. The spokesperson said lawful transit through international waters did not require another country’s advance permission. Reuters said the US Navy had not immediately answered its request for comment. The reports reviewed do not confirm whether this particular voyage was a formal freedom-of-navigation operation. Why the location matters USNI News identifies Charleston as an Independence-class littoral combat ship and reports that Chinese naval, coast guard and maritime militia vessels have maintained a presence at Sabina Shoal since a 2024 standoff with Manila. The outlet places Tuesday’s encounter against a backdrop of repeated close encounters between Chinese and Philippine forces this month. Its reporting also notes that US littoral combat ships operating under Seventh Fleet regularly patrol the South China Sea and exercise with Southeast Asian partners. The immediate questions are the ship’s precise route and the US Navy’s account of its mission. These details remain unconfirmed in the sources reviewed. Follow more international reporting in GM247 News World.