(CNN) The U.S. Navy on Tuesday sent a guided missile destroyer within 12 miles of a disputed island in the South China Sea where China has built an airstrip -- prompting China to scramble fighter jets and dispatch warships to "expel" the American ship.
"USS William P. Lawrence exercised the right of innocent passage while transiting inside 12 nautical miles of Fiery Cross Reef, a high-tide feature that is occupied by China, but also claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam," a Pentagon statement said.
"This operation challenged attempts by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam to restrict navigation rights around the features they claim ... contrary to international law," the statement continued.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12 nautical miles is considered the limit at which a nation's rule extends off its shores.
The Law of the Sea defines "innocent passage" as a transit in which a ship does not conduct any military, commercial or research activities.
The Pentagon statement said the U.S. did not notify any of the countries involved about the destroyer's transit in advance.
The guided missile destroyer USS William P. Lawrence transits the Philippine Sea earlier this year.
Chinese vessels challenged the Lawrence a dozen times by radio, a U.S. official said, but the Chinese ships did not come as close to the U.S. ship as they had during previous times the U.S. sent ships through waters near disputed islands, including Fiery Cross Reef, which is in the Spratly Islands.
"This operation demonstrates, as President Obama has stated, that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows. That is true in the South China Sea as in other places around the globe," the Pentagon statement said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry reacted defiantly.
"The unauthorized entry by the U.S. warship into waters near China's Nansha Islands (which China calls the Spratlys) was an act of serious provocation," Senior Col. Yang Yujun, spokesman for China's Defense Ministry, said in a statement.
China dispatched two J-11 fighter jets, a Y-8 warning aircraft and three warships, a guided missile destroyer, a guided missile frigate and a frigate, to the area, Yang said.
They "promptly identified the U.S. warship and issued warnings to expel it from the area," Yang said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman also criticized the U.S. Navy's move.
"The relevant Chinese department took measures of monitoring, tracking and warning in accordance with the law. I have to point out, this action by the U.S. side threatened China's sovereignty and security interests, endangered the staff and facilities on the reef, and damaged regional peace and stability," spokesman Lu Kang said.
The South China Sea is the subject of several rival -- and often messy -- territorial claims, with China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam disputing the sovereignty of several island chains and nearby waters.
Fiery Cross Reef is part of the disputed Spratly Islands. In January, China said it had completed building a runway on the island, one of three it has been constructing in the South China Sea with dredged material.
READ: CNN flies with U.S. Navy over disputed islands
U.S. Navy has been active in the region
Tuesday's passage of the Lawrence is the third that the U.S. Navy has conducted in the South China Sea.
Last October, the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen passed within 12 miles of Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands.
And in January, the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur sailed within 12 miles of Triton Island in the disputed Paracel Islands archipelago.
The U.S. official said Tuesday that the U.S. would continue with such transits.
Yang, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, said the U.S. moves justify China building military facilities on the disputed islands.
"The provocative actions of U.S. military ships and airplanes have exposed the U.S. motive of trying to destabilize the region and seek benefit from it. It also proves again the rationale and necessity of China's construction of defense facilities on relevant islands and reefs," Yang's statement said.
"Based on our needs, we will intensify our patrol in relevant waters and airspace, and improve our defense capabilities to firmly protect national sovereignty and security as well as to preserve peace and stability in the South China Sea," the statement concluded.
While the U.S. asserts its rights on the sea, the Philippines is doing so in court, filing a lawsuit challenging the Chinese occupations.
Analysts believe that the ruling from the international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which is expected this month, will be unfavorable to the Chinese.
The South China Sea moves have chilled U.S.-China relations.
In late April, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and its strike group were denied a port visit in Hong Kong.
China criticized the U.S. reaction to the denial of the Stennis port call in Hong Kong as a "blowhard performance" for the media in an editorial in the state-run Global Times.
"A few U.S. warships being denied entry to Hong Kong should be of no consequence to Beijing and Washington. Over the past few years, the Pentagon has played a series of tricks against China, creating quite an unpleasant atmosphere between the two sides," the editorial said.
US aircraft carriers
Sailors spell out #USA with the American flag on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf in late June 2015. When the Roosevelt leaves the Gulf sometime in October, the U.S. Navy will be without a carrier in the important region for two months.
A MV-22B Osprey, from Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1, lifts off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) on June 12, 2016. Click through the gallery to see other US aircraft carriers.
Tug boats maneuver the aircraft carrier Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) into the James River during the ship's turn ship evolution on June 11, 2016. This is a major milestone that brings the country's newest aircraft carrier another step closer to delivery and commissioning later this year.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) arrives at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, a suburb of Tokyo, Japan, on October 1, 2015. The Reagan is the fifth U.S. carrier forward deployed to Japan following USS George Washington (CVN 73), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), USS Independence (CV 62) and USS Midway (CV 41), according to the Navy.
The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike) transits through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea on June 13, 2016. Ike, the flagship of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. It could be used to support operations against ISIS in the Mideast.
A rainbow forms over the bow of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis as the ship steams in the Pacific Ocean on February 3, 2015.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (left) and Philippine Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin shake hands on a Marine Corps V-22 Osprey as they depart the the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) after touring the aircraft carrier as it sailed in the South China Sea on April 15, 2016.
A photo illustration of the U.S. Navy's Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79). The ship's keel laying ceremony was celebrated Saturday, August 22, 2015, in Newport News, Virginia. The ship is expected to replace the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), scheduled for inactivation in 2025, in the Navy fleet. The newest Kennedy will be the second carrier of that name. The first John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) was the last conventionally powered carrier. It was decommissioned in 2007.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) passes under the Friendship Bridge while transiting the Suez Canal on Dec. 14, 2015. The ship is conducting operations in the Persian Gulf, where Iran claims to have taken footage of the carrier using a drone. Click through the gallery for more images of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.
Aviation Structural Mechanic Airman V. Sek, assigned to the "Jolly Rogers" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, applies a Christmas decal to an F/A-18F Super Hornet in the hangar bay of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in December 2015.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is seen from inside its sister ship, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), on August 7 off the coast of California as the two ships prepare for
a "hull swap." Over 10 days in San Diego, much of the crew of each ship will transfer to the other. When completed, the Reagan will head to forward deployment in Japan, where the Washington had been. The Washington will head to Newport News, Virginia, for an overhaul.
Three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), top, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), center, and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) are pierside at Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego on June 12, 2015. The Vinson has just recently returned from a 10-month deployment. The Reagan is preparing for a move to Japan later this year and the Stennis was making a port call after steaming from its homeport of Bremerton, Washington.
Sailors test the countermeasure washdown system on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) during sea trials prior to returning to its homeport at Naval Station Norfolk in late August 2015.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt departs Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday, March 11, for a scheduled deployment. The Nimitz-class carrier's departure was delayed for two days after marine growth clogged sea water intakes. Divers went into the 36-degree water to clean out the intakes and allow the ship to get under way. The cold water created a fog that made it seem the ship was in a cloud.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, is seen near the coast of Indonesia in 2005. The carrier recently received a new anchor from the decommissioned USS Enterprise.
Lightning strikes over the flight deck of the USS John C. Stennis, another Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, as the ship moves through the Persian Gulf in 2007. All of the Navy's 10 active aircraft carriers are from the Nimitz class, which started in 1975 with the commission of the USS Nimitz.
The USS Ranger (CV-61) arrives at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1993. The Forrestal-class carrier, which featured in the movie "Top Gun," is to be scrapped this year.
In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, a tugboat works alongside the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Saratoga on Thursday, August 21, in Newport, Rhode Island. The Navy has paid a Texas recycling company a penny to dispose of the Saratoga, part of the Forrestal-class of "supercarrier" vessels built for the Atomic Age. The carrier was decommissioned 20 years ago.
Aircrew members are lifted from the flight deck of the USS John F. Kennedy during an exercise in 2002. The ship, which was decommissioned in 2007, was the only member of its class.
An F/A-18 Hornet launches from the USS Enterprise in 2007. The Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was decommissioned in 2012. Like the John F. Kennedy, it was the only ship built in its class.
The Kitty Hawk class was named for the USS Kitty Hawk, seen here departing Yokosuka, Japan, in 2008. At that time, the Kitty Hawk was the oldest carrier in the U.S. Navy and the only conventional-power aircraft carrier still in commission. It was decommissioned in 2009.
The USS Independence, a member of the Forrestal class that preceded the Kitty Hawk class, heads up the East River in New York in 1959.
Helicopters sit on the flight deck of the USS Saipan during the mid-1950s. The ship was one of two members of the Saipan class.
The USS Midway, namesake of the Midway class of aircraft carriers, floats off the coast of North Vietnam in 1972. It was named after the Battle of Midway, when U.S. forces held back a Japanese attempt to take the Pacific atoll in 1942.
The USS Princeton, part of the Independence class, moves off the coast of Seattle in 1944.
The Essex-class USS Franklin burns after being hit by a Japanese dive bomber in 1945. The ship was named after Benjamin Franklin and nicknamed "Big Ben."
The USS Wasp burns in the Coral Sea after being struck by three torpedoes from a Japanese submarine in 1942. The ship, the only one of its class, would ultimately sink because of the damage.
B-25 bombers sit on the deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean in 1942. The Hornet, one of three carriers in the Yorktown class, was the ship that launched the bombers flown by Air Force Lt. Col. James Doolittle and his pilots during an air raid in Tokyo four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also was involved in the Battle of Midway.
Navy personnel work on board the USS Ranger circa 1942. The Ranger was the first ship to be designed and built specifically as an aircraft carrier. It was the only ship in its class.
There have actually been two aircraft carriers named after the Revolutionary War's Battle of Saratoga. The first USS Saratoga, seen here moving toward San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in 1945, was one of two members of the Lexington class of aircraft carriers.
The USS Langley, the Navy's first aircraft carrier and sole member of its class, steams off the coast of Baltimore in 1924.
That came just a few weeks after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter visited the Stennis while it was operating in the South China Sea.
"We want to reduce tensions, but we also want everybody in the region to be able to rise and develop in their own way," Carter said at the time.
Also in April, U.S. Pacific Command began flying A-10 Thunderbolt jets and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters out of Clark Air Base in the Philippines with part of their mission "assuring all nations have access to air and sea domains throughout the region in accordance with international law," according to an Air Force press release.
The Air Force said the aircraft would be flying in international airspace near Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both China and the Philippines and lies around 130 miles from the Philippines' capital of Manila.
It isn't all tension between the U.S. and Chinese militaries, however. The U.S. 7th Fleet said Tuesday that its flagship, the command ship USS Blue Ridge, completed a port visit to Shanghai. U.S. sailors worked on a community service project with and played basketball against their Chinese counterparts, a 7th Fleet statement said.
CNN's Barbara Starr, Steven Jiang, Jennifer Rizzo, Yuli Yang and Zahra Ullah contributed to this report.