The move is likely to anger Beijing at a time of tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies. The South China Sea is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a trade war, US sanctions and Taiwan. The US guided-missile destroyers Preble and Chung Hoon travelled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islands.

Commander Clay Doss, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet, said that the “innocent passage” was “to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law.”

The move comes just days after two US Navy destroyers through the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing recently fiercely criticised France after the country attempted a similar transit.

The Pentagon said the voyage was to increase the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.

Tensions in the South China Sea have risen in the past year as the US tries to push back China’s hold on the region.

The waters are the world’s busiest trade route and the Chinese claim is contested by a number of regional powers including Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei.

So far, the US has conducted 15 freedom of navigation operations in the area since 2015.

The US also want allies to consider similar manoeuvres.

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, told an audience at the National Review Institute’s 2019 Ideas Summit that “there is an important relationship between the US and China”.

But he added: “Their moving into the South China Sea is not because they want freedom of navigation.

“Their efforts to build ports around the world aren’t because they want to be good shipbuilders and stewards of waterways, but rather they have a state national security element to each and every one of them.”

Indonesia and the Philippines have been stepping up their claims on the South China Sea.

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