Turning a deaf ear to China's repeated oppositions, representation and warnings, the US on Saturday flagrantly dispatched one of its destroyers within 12 nautical miles of one of the Xisha Islands irrefutably owned by China.

The dangerous and reckless move, the second of its kind by the US Navy since October, 2015, is a serious political and military provocation to China's self-evident sovereignty over the Xisha Islands and its adjacent waters.

The move dampens hard-won mutual trust between China and the US, shakes stability around the South China Sea and further erodes America's credibility as a reliable stakeholder.

In addition, the incursive and harmful operation is nothing short of willful and irresponsible saber-rattling mounted to flex US muscles at China's territory and reassert Washington's juggernaut role in the region.

In parallel, the uncalled-for and superfluous action, carried out in the name of "freedom of navigation," is actually a blatant abuse of China's rights, because it violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by threatening China's sovereignty and security interests.

What's more, the conspiratorial and canny designing, an unclad compromise between the Barack Obama administration and the hawks in the US army, is driven by nothing but the bipartisan politics in Washington, as the Democrats and the Republicans are on the threshold of mud wrestling for the presidency, during which, they always pick another country as a scapegoat to squeeze support from US voters.

In fact, due to the shared resolve of relevant parties to keep the sea peaceful, and in no smaller part thanks to China's restraint, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has never been a problem in the past nor is it one now or will be in the future.

Such a principle does not provide a pretext or privilege for any country, particularly the US, to harm sovereignty and security of other countries.

Besides, it is clear and obvious that China does not seek to militarize the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, and its construction activities there do not target any other country and will not hinder international passage that all countries are entitled to under international law.

Nevertheless, the US turned a deaf ear to China's appeals.

So, what is behind Washington's show of force only turned out to be shrewd calculation of geopolitics, dirty bipartisan deals and the pursuing of America's global predominance - none of which holds the moral high ground.

For the sake of the healthy development of the Sino-US relationship as well as the peace and stability in the South China Sea region, it is imperative that Uncle Sam stop making waves in the busy body of water and stop making trouble out of nothing in the currently peaceful area.

The author is a writer with the Xinhua News Agency. The article first appeared on Xinhua. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn