Legally it’s the same as the middle of the Pacific. It’s not inside the territorial waters of either nation. So the new story should read that they’re angry that the American warship operated in international waters.
If you've ever been in the Pacific Ocean, you know how absolutely massive it is. You'll also understand why my jaw dropped when I read the article below.
Huge Underground Reservoir Holds Three Times As Much Water As Earth’s Oceans
The US, Britain, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea need to put a permanent surface and submarine fleet in the South China sea and keep a permanent presence. If China decides to get crazy they are a trip wire and give us some warning time, plus they are guns, torpedoes and missiles already on the scene and not having to race to get to a hot spot and can buy us precious time in a fight with the chicoms. This permanent allied fleet also is a thorn in the dragons side much like a similar fleet was to Imperial Japan in the 1930’s far east.