UPDATE 2-Two U.S. carrier groups conduct exercises in South China Sea

(Recasts, adds Chinese Foreign Ministry and Taiwan president
comments, byline)
By Se Young Lee
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Two U.S. carrier groups conducted joint
exercises in the South China Sea on Tuesday, days after a U.S.
warship sailed near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed
waters, as China denounced the United States for damaging peace
and stability.
The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the Nimitz
Carrier Strike Group "conducted a multitude of exercises aimed
at increasing interoperability between assets as well as command
and control capabilities", the U.S. Navy said, marking the first
dual carrier operations in the busy waterway since July 2020.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin
said the frequent moves by U.S. warships and aircraft into the
South China Sea in a "show of force" was not conducive to
regional peace and stability.
"China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly
safeguard national sovereignty and security and work with
countries in the region to firmly safeguard peace and stability
in the South China Sea," he said.
The exercise comes days after China condemned the sailing of
the destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, near the
Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in what the United States
calls a freedom of navigation operation - the first such mission
by the U.S. navy since President Joe Biden took office.
Last month, the U.S. military said Chinese military flights
over the South China Sea fit a pattern of destabilising and
aggressive behaviour but posed no threat to a U.S. Navy aircraft
carrier strike group in the region. The United States has contested China's extensive
territorial claims in the region, accusing it of militarising
the South China Sea and trying to intimidate neighbours such as
Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, who have claims that
overlap with China's in the resource-rich area.
"We are committed to ensuring the lawful use of the sea that
all nations enjoy under international law," Rear Admiral Jim
Kirk, commander of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, said in a
statement.
China has been infuriated by repeated U.S. sailings near the
islands it occupies and controls in the South China Sea. China
says it has irrefutable sovereignty and has accused the United
States of deliberately stoking tension.
China has also been angered by U.S. warships sailing through
the Taiwan Strait, including one last week, also the first such
operation under the Biden administration. Speaking in Taipei, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said U.S.
ships and aircraft carrying out freedom of navigation operations
was reassuring.
"This demonstrates the clear U.S. attitude towards
challenges to the security status quo in the Indo-Pacific
region," she said.