By India Today World Desk: Amid the soaring tensions between the United States of America and China in the South China Sea, a Chinese vessel overtook the American ship and then veered across its bow at a distance of 150 yards (about 140 meters) in an “unsafe manner”, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command.
A video taken by Canadian news outlet Global News showed the Chinese warship speeding towards the USS Chung-Hoon. It came within 150 yards of the American destroyer, US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
The incident occurred as the Chung-Hoon sailed through the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian warship in a joint mission through the sensitive waterway that separates self-ruled Taiwan from China.
Beijing’s ship “overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 (knots) to avoid a collision,” the statement said.
It then “crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time starboard to port at 2,000 yards (meters) and remained off Chung-Hoon’s port bow,” coming within 150 yards at the closest point, the U.S. military said, adding that the “U.S. military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows.”
“The Chinese ship acted in an unsafe manner and violated the maritime rules of the road of safe passage in international waters,” it said.
“Actions speak louder than words, and the dangerous behavior we’ve seen from the PLA around the strait, in the South and East China seas, and beyond really says it all,” a US defence official told CNN.
It is the second close encounter between American and Chinese military assets in less than 10 days.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described the incident as “extremely dangerous”, saying the Chinese vessel crossed “probably 150 feet (46 metres)” in front of the Chung-Hoon.
“I call upon the (Chinese) leadership to really do the right things to rein in that kind of conduct, because I think accidents can happen that could cause things to spiral out of control,” Austin told reporters in Singapore.
‘DELIBERATELY PROVOKING RISK’
Meanwhile, China’s military rebuked the United States and Canada for “deliberately provoking risk” after the countries’ navies staged a rare joint sailing through the Taiwan Strait.
The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said its forces monitored the ships throughout and “handled” the situation in accordance with the law and regulations.
“The countries concerned deliberately create incidents in the Taiwan Strait region, deliberately provoke risks, maliciously undermine regional peace and stability, and send the wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” it said on Saturday.
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(With inputs from agencies)