Chinese Warship Nearly Hits U.S. Destroyer in Taiwan Strait
A Chinese Navy ship sailed in an “unsafe manner” within 150 yards of an American destroyer transiting the Taiwan Strait, according to a June 3 report from the United States military.
A video released by the U.S. Navy shows the close encounter between the Chinese warship and the uss Chung-Hoon. Beijing’s ship “overtook Chung-Hoon on [its] port side and crossed [its] bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 (knots) to avoid collision,” according to a statement by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
China blames U.S.: Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu told a gathering of some of the world’s top defense officials in Singapore on the same day that so-called “freedom of navigation” patrols by the U.S. are a provocation to China. He said China doesn’t have problems with “innocent passage,” but “we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedom of navigation, that innocent passage, to exercise hegemony of navigation.”
Li suggested the U.S. and its allies were responsible for the danger and should focus on taking “good care of your own territorial airspace and waters.” He warned that countries with naval vessels and fighter jets should not perform “closing actions” around other countries’ territories, implying that the Taiwan Strait belongs to China.
Rising tensions: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the same forum that the U.S. would not “flinch in the face of bullying or coercion” from China but would continue its patrols through the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea to counter Beijing’s territorial claims over the waters.
Aggressive behavior by the Chinese toward the U.S. has become a common trend, especially over disputed waters such as the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. This incident is the second close encounter between the Chinese and American militaries in less than 10 days.
The Trumpet says: Watch as China becomes more belligerent in these disputed waters. China wants full control over these waters so it can freely operate its military without the presence of the U.S. or any other naval forces.
Recent events show that China is pushing more aggressively to claim the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea as its own. As Mr. Flurry warned in “China Is Steering the World Toward War,” “Everything is headed in the direction of war.”
