In what United States military leaders are classifying as a ‘bullying’ incident, video shows an American destroyer’s close call with a Chinese warship in Taiwan over the weekend.
The U.S. Navy released video Monday 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 an U.S. destroyer.
The 31-second video shows the American vessel was forced to slow down to avoid striking the Chinese warship as it buzzes by.
The tactic took place as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal were conducting a so-called “freedom of navigation” transit.
The Chinese warship overtook the American ship and veered across its bow at a distance of about 150 yards in an “unsafe manner,” the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command reported.
Footage of the Chinese ship sailing sharply before the U.S. destroyer shows the vessel leave a massive wake.
China defends sailing ship
China claims the area where the close call took place is part of their territory while the U.S. maintains it is international waters.
On Sunday, Chinese officials dismissed accusations of “bullying” made by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and accused the U.S. of fueling Taiwan separatist activities as tensions between the superpowers continued to rise.
Gen. Li Shangfu, China’s defense minister, defended sailing the warship crossing before the vessel’s path calling Western “freedom of navigation” patrols a provocation.
Shangfu said China does not have problems with “innocent passage” but “we must prevent attempts that try to use those freedoms of navigation … to exercise hegemony of navigation.”
Austin said Washington would not “flinch in the face of bullying or coercion” from China, the Associated Press reported, and would continue sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea to emphasize they are international waters.
Contributing: John Bacon with USA TODAY and The Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
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