While China is an enormous country with an increasingly aggressive naval presence in the South China Sea — which is a maze of conflicting territorial claims — its navy is no match for that of the United States. That said, it can certainly create problems, and that is precisely what it is doing.
Note the capture of an unmanned American naval vessel by the Chinese navy.
The Pentagon says a Chinese warship has seized a US Navy underwater drone collecting unclassified data in international waters in the South China Sea.
The incident has prompted a formal démarche from the United States and a demand for its return.
It is the first such seizure in recent memory and took took place on 15 December northwest of Subic Bay, just as the USNS Bowditch – an oceanographic survey ship – was about to retrieve the unmaned underwater vehicle (UUV), a US official told Reuters.
“The UUV was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea,” the official said.
“It’s a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water – that it was US property.”
Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said the US is asking for the drone’s return.
Obviously, China is doing this to send a message to the United States and to incoming president Donald Trump who has already angered the Chinese by taking a phone call from the leader of Taiwan, a territory which China views as a break-away province that must re-unite with the mainland at some point.
Remarks that are clearly hostile have been made by leaders from both the US and China. And these remarks have been reinforced by actions that are anything but peaceful.
The incident will add to concerns about China’s growing military presence in the disputed South China Sea. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US security think tank, said in a report late on Wednesday that China appears to have installed anti-aircraft guns and close-in weapons systems designed to guard against missile attack on its seven newly-created islands in the sea.
On Thursday the US Pacific fleet said it was ready to confront China should it continue to pursue overreaching maritime claims in the sea, with a number of other countries in the region also seeing areas of the sea as part of their territory.
How will Mr. Trump handle China? What sort of foreign policy will he implement?
Source: The Independent
Yeah, Obama ought to be hanged by the balls.
Too late we’re already stationing troops in Poland.
that’s not the trump administration. Anything that happens between now and Jan 20th will be completely undone
F**k China.!That’s what we get for helping them.In world war 2 the Japanese were slaughtering and raping by the 100 of thousands,we had a Doolittle raid we taught them how to fly and fight,they forget easily.There also not taught that the us helped them.We went to world war 2 because of those ungrateful bastards we put a blockade on Japan and limited are help to Japan because of what was happening in china so the Japanese walked out of the meetings and next thing you know there bombing pearl harbor,we lost 100 of thousands of us soldiers because we tried to help.then 10 years later were fighting the north Koreans. And china sends 100000 men in waves to attack are marines and army at chosin reservoir. We mowed there dumb asses down wave after wave.I wish are new president was in,we have the biggest navy in the world and way more high tech and we stand there and do nothing, even though we could destroy. There whole navy 2 years ago they only had one beat down aircraft carriers,we have 40 I don’t understand,we’ve become the$#%&!@*nation under are current president we need to let them know whose there slant eye daddy and so what if the have a billion man army they would starve in a month and if it came to war there wouldn’t be a billion man army.what are they going to do put there men on one carrier or ten battleships. We have more guns in this country that even the civilians could hold off a invasion.what are we scared about,the nukes we would shoot them down plus we have way more then them and trust me I bet we have them in japan.I love Japan if they put there mind into it there a great fighting machine,I know we give them limits off what they can have but that needs to go away.plus they have balls and hate china and north Koreans. Give them a year, they beat Russia. And china we are the only ones to ever defeat them and were lucky that we didn’t have to fight on there mainland we had no nukes left after the first 2 and we called them out,threatening that we had more I wish I would of lived in that greatest generation, the chinies could try to go through the bearring straight, wouldn’t work,and they damn sure can’t swim,so what is are president worried about? Remember when he drew a line in the sand,wow so scary these country’s just walk all over us its embarrassing