The US military recently released video capturing the moment a Chinese military vessel performed what US officials have called an “unsafe” maneuver.
The video, which was released on Sunday, shows the ship crossing the path of American and Canadian warships, coming within 150 yards, the length of one and a half football fields, of the American ship.
The USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s HMCS Montreal were traveling in the Taiwan Strait on June 3, when a Chinese ship, the Luyang III, a Type 052D destroyer, crossed in front of the two Western ships before adjusting course and moving in a parallel direction with the NATO convoy.
The US Indo-Pacific Command called the maneuver unsafe, an assertion the Chinese government has denied.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at a news conference that the move was part of a “growing aggressiveness” by China in the region, adding that the US is “prepared to address it.”
The incident follows another encounter from less than two weeks ago where a US RC-135 spy plane was intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet, which came within several dozen feet of the US aircraft.
“We’re operating in international airspace and international waters,” Kirby said. “And both of those incidents were in complete compliance with international law.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a news conference that “the US side made provocations first and the Chinese side only responded by handling the incident in accordance with relevant laws and regulations,” adding that “these actions are completely justified, lawful, safe and professional. China resolutely opposes the [US] stirring up trouble in the Taiwan Strait and is firmly determined to defend its sovereignty and security and regional peace and stability.”
The Taiwan Strait, where the incident took place is a roughly 100-mile-wide strait between Taiwan and mainland China.
Wang says US maneuvers in the country are meant to provoke China and threaten the country’s sovereignty. “[T]he US has been sending warships and military aircraft halfway around the world to China’s doorsteps and engaging in close-in reconnaissance and show off of military muscle near China’s territorial sea and airspace. This is not about ‘freedom of navigation’, but hegemony of navigation and distinct military provocation," he said.
US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, speaking at the New York Foreign Press Center Briefing, said on Tuesday that US actions in the Indo-Pacific region are aimed at strengthening deterrence by “demonstrating combat credible forces in the region,” though she did not mention actions in the Taiwan Strait specifically.
“We are able to bring army forces into the region, we are able to show how we can conduct joint air assault operations, we are able to use systems like HIMARS, artillery, for example, in our exercises, and we are able to show how we are able to operate with our allies and partners in the region,” Wormuth said.
China has accused the US of attempting to expand NATO into the Asia-Pacific. “What is particularly concerning is that certain countries, while claiming to champion freedom and openness and aim to preserve peace and prosperity in the region, have been in fact patching up various military blocs and extending NATO’s influence into the Asia-Pacific,” Wang said Monday. “[Asian countries] oppose the emergence of military blocs in the region. They don’t welcome NATO’s outreach in Asia. They don’t want a replica of bloc confrontation in Asia.”
Wang asked reporters during a Tuesday conference why the incidents keep happening near China and not other countries. “[W]hy did all the so-called “unsafe” and “unprofessional” incidents – according to US officials – happen near the airspace and territorial waters of China, but not other countries? This deserves some serious thought.”
Prior to the incident, the US Navy said the transit through the strait “demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”