Posted on 05/05/2009 1:03:17 PM PDT by pissant
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Chinese fishing boats engaged in "dangerous" maneuvers near a US Navy ship in international waters off China, in the latest provocative encounter with American surveillance vessels, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
"It is unsafe and dangerous behavior and it needs to be addressed" diplomatically, spokesman Bryan Whitman said as he described last Thursday's approach of a pair of Chinese vessels to the USNS Victorious, which he said was engaged in "routine operations."
The USNS Victorious and another unarmed surveillance vessel, the USNS Impeccable, were involved in a series of close encounters with Chinese ships in the South China Sea in early March that left both nations' navies in a state of heightened alert.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
If those are real fishing boats, I’m the King of England!
Same test for 0bama with the ships as the Chinese gave to Bush with the EP-3 at the start of his Terms...prior to 9/11/01.
They’ll measure how 0bama responds based upon their Bush yardstick.
If Russia parked a surveillance ship off the coast just outside of Norfolk would we do the same thing?
Just playing devil’s advocate here, curious what our response would be.
That sort of thing used to happen quite a bit (and maybe still does). Russian subs were routinely close enough to see the lights of San Diego. We watch them and they know it.
One thing we would NOT do is send ‘fishing boats’ out to force them into evasive manuevers. That’s plain physical harrassment and it shouldn’t be tolerated. China should be told in crystal clear terms that if it happens again in international waters there WILL be ChiComm ‘fishing boat’ tonnage sent to the bottom of the sea.
the claim of international waters .. open and free unimpeded movement on the seas or such defenses come to mind
It reminds me of the T54 bombers that fly by and violate airspace..
In the end, it’s just fairplay. I guess.
Altho I’m not too crazy with the idea we allow nukers that close. but that’s the world we live in.
C’mon, those Junks don’t maneuver that well.
Fishin for trouble, no doubt?
Rig up some depth charges timed for shallow.
I remember another small boat that got too close to a Navy ship.
... when they go off, claim the reds screwed up and there was a chain reaction. So Solly.
with the design of theone shown, ya can slide a ‘trawler’ right under it.. I’m sure that was considered before we built a bunch of them.
And what did we EVER do to appropriately respond to that incident? Nothing is my memory. I wish we had hit them hard on that deal. I wish these guys had flown as close to a us base of operation as possible and ditched that thing in the water before the chinese could strip it of so many secrets.
I am glad that all the members of that crew came home alive and well though.
The Russians continue to buzz our carriers on occasion.
Peripherally related, but I saw a Military Channel hour about the Coast Guard in Vietnam a little while ago. Boo-koo interesting.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54196
Chinese Vessels Approach Sealift Command Ship in Yellow Sea
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2009 – Chinese fishing vessels closed in on and maneuvered near the USNS Victorious in international waters in the Yellow Sea on May 1, Pentagon officials said today.
The Victorious is one of the five ocean surveillance ships that are part of the 25 ships in Military Sealift Command’s Special Mission Ships Program.
The vessel was conducting routine operations 170 miles off the coast of China when two Chinese fishing vessels approached, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
“This was an incident where a couple of Chinese fishing vessels maneuvered close to the Victorious in what was an unsafe manner,” Whitman said.
The Victorious took defensive measures as the vessels got close. The Victorious crew sounded the ship’s danger alarms and manned fire hoses. They sprayed water at the Chinese vessels, but did not hit them, officials said.
The Victorious requested the assistance of a nearby Chinese government vessel, at which time the fishing vessels departed, Whitman said.
He did not comment on the motive of the Chinese vessels. “That requires you to get inside the heads of the mariners out there,” he said. “What is clear is that it is unsafe and dangerous behavior, and it needs to be addressed. We do not want the mariners of any of the vessels out there in jeopardy.”
One Chinese vessel approached within 30 yards of the Victorious, officials said. “They are clearly demonstrating unsafe seamanship,” Whitman said. “As we have in previous incidents, we’ll be developing a way forward to deal with this diplomatically.”
On March 8, five Chinese vessels surrounded the USNS Impeccable as it was conducting operations 80 nautical miles off Hainan Island. There have been other incidents where Chinese vessels operated in an unsafe manner around U.S. ocean surveillance ships.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to ensure that safe procedures on the seas are followed,” Whitman said. “This was clearly well into international waters.”
Military vessels are not subject to coastal state jurisdiction and do not require the prior consent of the coastal state for activity in the exclusive economic zone.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.