The US Navy has shared a video highlighting an “unsafe interaction” within the Taiwan Strait, as a Chinese warship crossed dangerously close to a US destroyer, raising considerations amid strained Sino-US relations. The incident occurred during a routine transit of the strait by the USS Chung-Hoon and Canada’s HSMC Montreal, with the Chinese vessel coming inside 137 metres of the US ship. The video reveals the Chinese warship crossing the trail of the Chung-Hoon, which does not change course. A voice warns the Chinese ship against “attempts to restrict freedom of navigation”, though the total message is unclear as a end result of wind noise.
China has in a roundabout way addressed the US criticism of the encounter, and its international ministry didn’t reply to a request for comment. On Saturday evening, China’s army accused the US and Canada of “deliberately provoking risk” with their joint sailing. Chinese navy commentator Song Zhongping acknowledged that the “point clean interception” demonstrated the capabilities and “courage” of China’s navy. “The more intensified the provocation from the US, the stronger the countermeasures from China,” Song added.
This incident follows one other recent encounter, the place a Chinese fighter jet performed an “unnecessarily aggressive” manoeuvre near a US navy airplane over the South China Sea in worldwide airspace. Derek Grossman, a senior defence analyst on the RAND Corporation, believes Beijing has instructed its forces to respond extra assertively against perceived encroachments by US and allied forces. “By doing so, Well respected is just rising the chances for miscalculation – specifically ships or aircraft by chance colliding – that would then spiral into armed conflict,” he warned.
In 2001, a US spy airplane made an emergency touchdown on China’s Hainan island following a collision with a Chinese fighter jet, resulting within the death of the Chinese pilot. Taiwan’s defence ministry has labelled China’s actions with the US and Canadian ships as a “provocation” and emphasised the shared accountability of free and democratic nations to maintain peace and stability in the strait. “Any actions to increase tension and hazard is not going to contribute to regional security,” the ministry said in a release, urging China to respect the right to freedom of navigation..