The US military released footage yesterday of what it called an “unsafe” Chinese maneuver in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in which a Chinese navy ship cut sharply across the path of a US destroyer, forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision.
The incident occurred as the US destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal were conducting what they said was a “freedom of navigation” transit of the Strait.
During the transit, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) guided-missile destroyer overtook the Chung-Hoon on its port side, then veered across its bow at a distance of about 150 yards (137m), the US Indo-Pacific Command said.
Photo: US Navy via AP
The US destroyer maintained its course, but reduced its speed to 10 knots (18.5kph) to avoid a collision, it said.
The video released yesterday shows the Chinese ship cutting across the US ship’s course, then straightening out to start sailing in a parallel direction.
The Indo-Pacific Command said the actions contravened the maritime rules of safe passage in international waters.
The Chinese ship did not attempt a similar maneuver on the Canadian frigate, which was sailing behind the US destroyer.
“Chung-Hoon and Montreal’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the combined US-Canadian commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Indo-Pacific Command said. “The US military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows.”
The US recently accused China of also performing an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” in the air, saying a Chinese J-16 fighter jet late last month flew directly in front of the nose of a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
The close calls have raised concerns of a possible accident that could lead to an escalation between the two countries’ militaries at a time when tensions in the region are already high.
The incident in the Taiwan Strait came on a day when US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu (李尚福) were in Singapore for an annual defense conference.
Li on Sunday said that the US and its allies created the danger with their patrols, and that Washington was intent on provoking China.
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