"China respects and upholds the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, which countries enjoy under international law, but firmly opposes any country's attempt to undermine China's sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The contested waters are a crucial shipping route at the heart of a territorial dispute that pits multiple countries against one another.

Territorial dispute

China has a long history of maritime disputes with its South China Sea neighbors.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including islands more than 800 miles from the Chinese mainland, despite objections from neighbors such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.

Though the US takes no position on the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, its warships have conducted routine "freedom of navigation" operations near the reclaimed islands, eliciting warnings from Beijing.

China at the time called it a serious breach of law and an intentional provocation.

There is no word whether the Vinson or the Meyer would be getting near the Chinese-claimed islands.

But Chinese media reacted quickly to the Vinson's cruise.

An opinion article in China's state-sanctioned Global Times declared that the deployment of the Vinson showed that the US wants to "create provocations and drive a wedge" between China and other countries party to the South China Sea.

"This may trigger frictions or even military clashes between China and the US," wrote Li Jie, a Beijing-based naval expert.

A separate Global Times article decried Trump's policy in the South China Sea as "unclear" and said that it may escalate tensions.

Compared to Barack Obama, Trump poses more of a risk to the area and China should "prepare diplomatically and militarily," Li is quoted as saying.

The cruise of the Vinson in the South China Sea is the second of a high-profile US Navy vessel this month.

Last week, the littoral combat ship USS Coronado, which is temporarily based in Singapore, was conducting training operations in the South China Sea, according to a Navy statement.

"While underway, we are conducting training across multiple mission areas including weapons training, manned and unmanned flight operations, ship handling, and damage control drills," said Cmdr. Scott Larson, the Coronado's commanding officer. "Training at sea in these warfare areas maintains crew proficiency and ensures we are ready to operate successfully in a variety of missions."

Rear Adm. James Kilby, commander of the Vinson strike group, had a similar message.

"The training completed over the past few weeks has really brought the team together and improved our effectiveness and readiness as a strike group," Kilby said in a statement. "We are looking forward to demonstrating those capabilities while building upon existing strong relationships with our allies, partners and friends in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."

Among those friends has been the Philippines, which last week was hosting the crew of the attack submarine USS Louisville in Subic Bay. The Navy did not give details of the mission of the 6,000-ton sub, saying only its presence at the Philippine port "demonstrates the U.S. Navy's commitment to regional stability and maritime security in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations," which includes the South China Sea.