China denounces US-Australian navy drills as muscle flexing

China says the U.S. and Australia were flexing their muscles with recent naval drills in the South China Sea, underscoring Beijing’s sensitivity over the strategic waterway it claims as its own

BEIJING -- China on Friday said the U.S. and Australia were "flexing their muscles” with recent naval drills in the South China Sea, underscoring Beijing’s sensitivity over the strategic waterway it claims as its own. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat concluded a week of joint operations in the South China Sea. Those included maneuvering drills along with resupplying vessels, cross-deck helicopter operations and live-fire gunnery exercises. “The ships honed their advanced mariner skills in a joint environment while enforcing the normalcy of routine operations throughout the region in accordance with international law," the Navy said. At a daily briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the two countries should “do things that are conducive to regional peace and stability, instead of flexing their muscles.”