Navy’s info chief trades Twitter barbs with Chinese journalist over destroyer in South China Sea

[Tony]

A top Navy official and the editor of a Chinese state-run newspaper traded digital quips Thursday, a day after a Navy destroyer cruised past a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

Navy Chief of Information Rear Adm. Charlie Brown and Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin got into the back-and-forth on Twitter over the USS Benfold’s pass within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands.

“Hopefully when Chinese warships pass through the Caribbean Sea or show up near Hawaii and Guam one day, the US will uphold the same standard of freedom of navigation,” Hu tweeted. “That day will come soon.”