Britannia Radio

Monday, March 09, 2009

 

Pentagon Protests Chinese Naval Harassment

U.S. officials said they have protested to China about a naval incident in which five Chinese vessels harassed an unarmed U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea. 

American authorities said the Chinese sailors' conduct was "reckless" and "unprofessional." 

At the Pentagon, officials said Monday that the Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Impeccable, waving Chinese flags and ordering it to leave the area. It said the U.S. ocean surveillance ship was unarmed and staffed by civilians conducting routine operations at the time, on Sunday. 

Some accounts said the Impeccable was towing sonar equipment to monitor Chinese submarine traffic.

When the Chinese vessels moved dangerously close to the Impeccable, the U.S. military said the Americans sprayed water from the ship's fire hoses at one of the Chinese vessels. 

Crew members on the deck of the approaching patrol boat stripped to their underwear when they were sprayed with water, but U.S. officials said the Chinese vessel did not change course, stopping only when it was about eight meters from the twin-hulled American vessel. 

The Impeccable radioed the Chinese ships to say it was leaving the area and to request safe passage. Defense Department officials said two of the Chinese vessels responded by blocking the U.S. ship's path and dropping wood into the water.

Beijing had no immediate comment on American charges that the Chinese vessels' actions violated international laws on the rights and safety of lawful users of the ocean. 

The Pentagon said the Impeccable and another U.S. Navy ship had been subjected to increasingly aggressive monitoring by Chinese vessels in the days leading up to Sunday's incident.

The U.S. Defense Department said it expects Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative actions that could lead to miscalculations or collisions at sea.