Morning Brief: U.S. and China in spat over naval incident
Top Story China fired back in the ongoing war of words over last weekend’s bizarre confrontation between U.S. and Chinese ships in the South China sea. After the U.S. accused the Chinese navy of surrounding and harassing its ships, China’s foreign ministry claimed the U.S. vessel “broke international and Chinese laws in the South China ...
Top Story
Top Story
China fired back in the ongoing war of words over last weekend’s bizarre confrontation between U.S. and Chinese ships in the South China sea. After the U.S. accused the Chinese navy of surrounding and harassing its ships, China’s foreign ministry claimed the U.S. vessel “broke international and Chinese laws in the South China Sea without China’s permission.”
China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is due to visit in the United States this week and the controversy could distract from discussion of the financial crisis. The U.S. ship, the Impeccable, was equipped with an underwater listening system as part of the navy’s anti-submarine warfare efforts. Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists describes this incident as the latest development in a “dangerous cat and mouse game between U.S. and Chinese submarines and their hunters.”
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Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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