File photo of the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen underway in the Pacific Ocean
The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen sails in the Pacific Ocean in a November 2009 photo provided by the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands built by China in the South China Sea on October 27, 2015, a U.S. defense official said, in a challenge to China’s territorial claims in the area. The official said the USS Lassen was sailing near Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago, features that were submerged at high tide before China began a massive dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014. REUTERS/US Navy/CPO John Hageman/Handout via Reuters