A U.S. warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea on Saturday, a defense official said. The USS Curtis Wilbur destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, in the Paracels chain, without notifying the three claimants to the surrounding seas beforehand, AP quoted Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright as saying in Washington. Wright reiterated that while insisting on freedom of navigation, the United States took no position on the competing territorial claims to natural islands in the South China Sea.
