A Chinese warship nearly collided with the US destroyer USS Chung-Hoon in the South China Sea. How complaints Canadian broadcaster Global News, it happened during a joint Canada-US mission to the Taiwan Strait.
According to the television channel, whose journalists were on the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal, the Chinese ship approached the American destroyer at a distance of less than 150 meters.
Captain Paul Mountford, commanding officer of the Canadian vessel, called the PRC ship’s maneuver “unprofessional”. According to him, the Americans had to change course and slow down to avoid a collision.
The incident was “clearly caused by the Chinese”, Mountford said.
The Canadian television channel publishes a video of the incident and evaluates what happened as an “aggressive military step” on the part of Beijing.
What we say in the USA
The US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) released statement which claims that the Chinese ship acted in violation of safety regulations for navigation in international waters.
The US command said it was the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) destroyer LUYANG III.
The United States claims that the current Canada-US mission “demonstrates the joint commitment of the United States and Canada to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The U.S. military “flys, swims, and operates safely and responsibly wherever international law permits,” USINDOPACOM says.
“They are there to provoke”
China, for its part, has previously accused the United States and its allies of trying to destabilize the Indo-Pacific region.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu at Shangri-La Dialogue Security Forum in Singapore declared that the United States “brings about a bloc confrontation in its own interest”.
According to the head of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Washington and its allies are trying to assert their dominance in the region.
“They are not here for peaceful passage, they are here for provocation,” the minister said, referring to US warships.
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