China has condemned the US for transgressing territory it claims in the South China Sea as "illegal" and a threat to its sovereignty.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said Beijing would "resolutely respond to any country's deliberately provocative actions".
The guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen breached the 12-nautical mile zone China claims around Subi and Mischief reefs in the Spratly archipelago, in the disputed South China Sea region.
The US ambassador in Beijing has been summoned by the foreign ministry.
The passage by the ship was welcomed by many of China's neighbours, including the Philippines and Japan.
See more on the South China Sea dispute here.