Video showing China’s ‘unsafe’ maneuver in Taiwan Strait released by US Navy
The US Navy has released new video showing what it calls an “unsafe” maneuver by a Chinese warship in the Taiwan Strait. US military officials say their vessel was forced to slow down to avoid a collision.
The footage shows the encounter between the Chinese warship and the US guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon.
The US Indo-Pacific Command says the Chinese ship sailed within 140 meters of the destroyer.
It says the action was a violation of the maritime rules that govern safe passage in international waters.
The US navy was conducting a routine exercise with the Royal Canadian Navy through the strait.
Canada’s HMCS Montreal’s Commanding Officer, Capt. Paul Mountford, said, “Maneuvering that close to each other, 150 yards, is very scary. You never want to be that close to another vessel because too many things can go wrong and you can actually have a collision.”
China’s military says its forces monitored the situation and handled it in accordance with the law and regulations.
It claims the US and Canada were “deliberately provoking risk” by staging a joint exercise in the politically sensitive waterway.
The encounter took place at the same time a major regional security conference was underway in Singapore, where US and Chinese defense chiefs were in attendance.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks, leaving the two countries deadlocked over Taiwan and maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
