(CNN) A US destroyer has sailed within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese-claimed island in the South China Sea, a highly-contested stretch of water where China's been reclaiming land and building islands, US officials told CNN Friday. In its own statement late Friday, China's defense ministry said two Chinese Navy ships "took immediate action to identify and verify the US ship, and warned and dispelled it." "China holds indisputable sovereignty over the islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea," ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said in a statement. The defense ministry called the American behavior a "serious political and military provocation against China. The Chinese military is firmly opposed to it."

Source: CNN March 23, 2018 10:50 UTC