BEIJING, April 10. /TASS/. The United States’ Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius illegally entered China’s waters near the Meiji (Mischief) Reef in the South China Sea, Tian Junli, a spokesman for the Chinese People's Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, said on Monday.

"On April 10, the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer illegally entered the waters around the Meiji Reef near China’s Nansha islands without the approval of the Chinese government," China Central Television quoted him as saying.

The Southern Theater Command ordered its naval and air forces to track the US warship, Tian Junli added. "China has indisputable sovereignty over islands in the South China Sea and its surrounding waters, and the forces of the [Southern] Theater Command are always on high alert," the spokesperson noted.

The Chinese military detected the US guided-missile destroyer in the area amid rising tensions around the island of Taiwan. China's Eastern Theater Command announced earlier that drills were taking place in the Strait of Taiwan on April 8-10.