Chinese Navy Harasses US Navy Ship In International Waters

Five Chinese Naval vessels have maneuvered recklessly to within 8 meters (26 feet) of a US Navy Surveillance ship operating in the South China Sea.

The United States have reacted angrily to the actions of Chinese ships which harassed a US Navy ship in international waters. The incident occurred on Sunday in the South China Sea about 120Km south of Hainan Island, well within international waters. The Chinese vessels included a navy intelligence ship, a government fisheries patrol vessel, a state oceanographic patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers. The US ship involved was the USNS Impeccable, a T-AGOS-23 surveillance vessel operating with the Special Missions Program of the US Navy off China on a routine patrol. According to a report in The Australian, the Chinese ships surrounded the USNS Impeccable, and after two ships came within 15m, waved Chinese flags and told the Americans to leave the area, the Defence Department said in a statement. The tension on the high seas took an odd turn at one point when the Americans sprayed water at the Chinese boats and the crew responded by stripping to their underwear. Because the vessels' intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself. The incident, less than two months after the inauguration of President Obama. In a similar incident In April 2001, a Chinese jet-fighter buzzed a Navy surveillance airplane in international airspace over the South China Sea, causing a mid air collision hat killed the Chinese pilot and resulted in the detention of the 24-member American crew for 11 days after their plane made an emergency landing on Hainan island. That episode presented the new Bush administration with its first foreign policy challenge. China said a U.S. naval vessel was conducting illegal surveying activities off its southern island of Hainan, a Hong Kong television website reported on Tuesday, after the Pentagon said Chinese ships had harassed the vessel in international waters.

"The U.S. navy vessel concerned has been in China's special economic zone conducting illegal surveying activities,"

said a statement from the Chinese embassy in Washington, reported by the website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television (news.ifeng.com).

"China cannot accept these baseless accusations. China demands that the United States halt all illegal surveying activities,"

said the statement White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said,

"We're going to continue to operate in those international waters and we expect the Chinese to observe international law around there,"

Although Chinese ships and planes often approach US ships in international waters, the incident followed what the Defence Department feels is increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels in the past week -- with Chinese boats steaming near US ships and aircraft flying low overhead. The Chinese were testing the new US president and other countries would closely follow his response, a US Republican lawmaker said. said "

This story will reverberate around the world and will be carefully watched in North Korea, Iran and Syria,"

Republican Representative Mark Kirk, a US Navy reservist who was at the Pentagon when the incident occurred Sunday. US President Barack Obama faces a critical "early test" from China over this naval standoff in the South China Sea. It's surprising in that the Chinese challenged a United States ship just two and a half weeks before the Obama/Hu Jintao summit" in London in April, Kirk told AFP by telephone.

"It's an early test"

of the new US president,

but "it's right on schedule,"

Kirk said, noting that China similarly challenged then-president George W. Bush two months after he took office in January 2001. The Obama administration needs to respond forcefully, perhaps by sending the unarmed surveillance ship

"right back into the same area"

-- this time with a destroyer escort, to make clear Washington cannot be bullied in international waters, said Kirk. And the US House of Representatives' US-China Working Group will formally condemn the confrontation in a

"strongly worded letter"

to Chinese President Hu Jintao, said Kirk, who co-founded and co-chairs the group. The group's condemnation could get Beijing's attention because it was created to engage China and strengthen diplomatic ties in a bid avoid conflict between the two major powers. Following is a statement as reported by Reuters from the Chinese embassy in Washington in response to an incident involving Chinese ships and a U.S. naval vessel in the South China Sea on Sunday. The statement was carried by the website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television (news.ifeng.com).

"In response to U.S. claims that a naval ship was harassed by the Chinese side, the concerned official in China's embassy to the United States stated: The U.S. navy vessel concerned has been consistently conducting illegal surveying in China's special economic zone. China believes this contravenes international laws of the sea and China's relevant laws. China has repeatedly used diplomatic channels to demand the U.S. side cease unlawful activities in China's special economic zone. China's law enforcement authorities have also sent vessels to carry out law enforcement activities. The U.S. claim about operating in high seas is out of step with the facts. This official stressed that China cannot accept the baseless U.S. accusations, that China demands the U.S. cease this kind of illegal surveying activity and do more things beneficial to the stable development of China-U.S. relations. This official also stated that the Chinese government will make a formal statement about this incident."

Oil jumped more than 3 percent to $47 a barrel amid the naval incident between China and the United States.