A Chinese warship sailed within yards of an American destroyer forcing it to change course in an ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ encounter in contested waters in the South China Sea.
The USS Decatur guided-missile destroyer was conducting what the military calls a ‘freedom of navigation operation’ on Sunday, when it passed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in the remote Spratly Islands.
The 12-mile distance is commonly accepted as constituting the territorial waters of a landmass.
The missile destroyer USS Decatur (pictured in 2016) operates in the South China Sea. A Chinese destroyer came aggressively close to a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea, forcing it to maneuver to prevent a collision, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.
Beijing claims all of the Spratlys and has built a number of military installations on the islands.
During the operation, a Chinese Luyang destroyer approached the USS Decatur in ‘an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the South China Sea,’ US Pacific Fleet spokesman Commander Nate Christensen said.
The Chinese ship then conducted a series of ‘increasingly aggressive maneuvers, and warned the Decatur to depart the area,’ he added.
Overview imagery of the Fiery Cross Reef located in the South China Sea. Fiery Cross is located in the western part of the Spratly Islands group. Beijing claims all of the Spratlys and has built a number of military installations on the islands
The Chinese ‘destroyer approached within 45 yards (meters) of Decatur’s bow, after which Decatur maneuvered to prevent a collision.’
China expressed anger at the U.S operation, calling it a threat to its sovereignty.
In a statement, the Chinese Ministry of Defense said that its ship had ‘given a warning to leave’ to the vessel after it entered the area ‘without permission.’
‘The US has repeatedly sent warships into the territorial waters near Chinese reefs and islands in the South China Sea,’ it said.
The behavior ‘gravely threatens China’s sovereignty and security, gravely damages relations between China and the US and their militaries, and gravely injures regional peace and stability.’
‘China’s military is resolutely opposed to this,’ it added.
The Chinese armed forces will continue to take all necessary steps to protect the country’s sovereignty and security, the ministry said.
China’s Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement it strongly urged the United States to stop such ‘provocative’ actions and to ‘immediately correct its mistakes’.
The operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, where Chinese, Japanese and some Southeast Asian navies operate.
An aerial view of uninhabited island of Spratlys in the disputed South China Sea
It also comes as military ties between the two countries have dived since Donald Trump became president in 2017.
A trade war launched by Trump has infuriated Beijing, as did his authorization of a $1.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which China considers a rebel province and which it claims as its own.
Washington last week enacted new tariffs against China covering another $200 billion of its imports.
China has taken a series of retaliatory measures, including scrapping a US warship’s planned port visit to Hong Kong and canceling a meeting between the head of the Chinese navy and his American counterpart.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he did not see relations between the United States and China worsening, a day after his trip to China was reportedly cancelled
Warships and fighter jets of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea April 12, 2018
China was also angered by U.S. sanctions on its military for buying Russian arms.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday he did not see relations between the United States and China worsening, a day after his trip to China was cancelled.
China reportedly cancelled the security meeting with Mattis that had been planned for October.
China has not yet commented on the matter.
Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe is due to visit the United States later this year but China’s Defence Ministry suggested last week that may not happen.