WASHINGTON, D.C.: A Chinese warship sailed within yards of an American destroyer -- forcing it to change course -- in an "unsafe and unprofessional" encounter as the US vessel was in contested waters in the South China Sea, an official said on Monday.

The USS Decatur guided-missile destroyer was conducting what the military calls a "freedom of navigation operation" Sunday, when it passed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in the remote Spratly Islands.

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