US to send warship close to South China Sea islets

USS Lassen (DDG 82), (R) transits in formation with ROKS Sokcho (PCC 778) during exercise Foal Eagle 2015, in waters east of the Korean Peninsula, in this March 12, 2015, handout photo provided by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy plans to send the USS Lassen destroyer within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea within 24 hours, a U.S. defense official said on October 26, 2015, the first of more regular challenges to China's territorial claims. REUTERS

WASHINGTON: In a move sure to anger Beijing, the US Navy plans to send Tuesday a destroyer close to artificial islands China is building in the South China Sea, a US official said. 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told AFP that the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen would sail within 12 nautical miles of the emerging land masses in the Spratly Islands.