The Bering Strait is considered International Water by international law to begin with, it was not a US territorial water. Innocent passage will
ALWAYS be granted to ship passing thru US territorial water into Bering Strait which transit thru between Russia and US.
What you are saying is not the direct result of a challenge, but a matter of international law. Innocent passage cannot be stop unless the ship in question does not simply pass thru the area, the US was monitoring the warship. And the Chinese warship did not do anything but simply passing thru the strait. Then what the hell the US is supposed to be protesting for?
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/International+Waterways
Defined International Waterway as
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bering_Strait
Bering Straits is
Lol, effectively, what you were saying is since US allow something perfectly legal as per interntional law, US gave up the territorial right that required to give up under said international law. Aren't that was supposed to happen?
EDIT:: The same cannot be said in SCS Situation, there are no international waterway China can claim the water, as they are not landlocked nor connecting two oceans, the question is, if Chinese protest on the passage, the passage US Navy conduct will not be innocents as there are no need or necessity to pass thru the area to begin with.
Hence China can claim the area of the ocean, but the claim, even for argument sake, turns out to be true, they cannot use "Innocent Passage" to excuse the US "Incursion" which is a situation a lot different than the time the Chinese ship passing thru Bering Strait into Russia.