[BroJoeK]

Ben Ficklin: "The provocative act was the US ship being in the 12 mile territorial waters.
The Chinese boat forced the US boat out of Chinese waters. "

Rubbish.
Gaven & Johnson reefs are in the Spratly Islands claimed by not only China but also Vietnam, the Philippines & Taiwan, near waters also claimed by Brunei and Malaysia.

In July 2016, an arbitration tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruled against the PRC's maritime claims in Philippines v. China."

The US and other nations recognize the South China Sea as international waters and conduct "freedom of navigation" operations there.
Chinese military aggression in international waters is a very dangerous "game".

News report on incident

Map of South China Sea claims:

[Ben Ficklin]

Are you a NeoCon?