The PLA’s Southern Theater Command drove away US warships USS Preble and USS Chung-Hoon from the South Island Reef, a spokesman said Monday.

Senior Colonel Li Huamin, spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said the two ships were warned for entering waters adjacent to the South Island Reef in China.

Using air and sea forces, the command identified and verified the US ships in accordance with the law, and warned them to leave, Li said.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters, and no matter how provocative the foreign ships are, they cannot change this fact.

The command will maintain a high alert and take all necessary measures to resolutely defend China’s sovereignty and safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea, Li added.