A Chinese warship came within 45 yards of striking the bow of the Bath-built USS Decatur in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday in what the U.S. Navy called an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.”
China’s defense ministry accused the United States of traveling near islands claimed by Beijing and ordered its ship to force the Decatur away from the Spratly Islands.
On Monday, U.S. Pacific Fleet Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman said the Chinese destroyer approached the USS Decatur in an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” near Gaven Reefs in the South China Sea, the Associated Press reported.
The Arleigh Burke-class USS Decatur (DDG 73) was built at Bath Iron Works in 1996.
The United States has said the destroyer was conducting a “freedom of navigation” mission into oceanic territory as it seeks to reject maritime claims by multiple countries.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, according to the New York Times, but the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan have made claims to the Spratly Islands.
Beijing has tried to turn reefs and rocks in the area into artificial islands in order to claim them, the Washington Post reports.
The incident occurred amid a major trade war between the two countries, and about a week after China canceled military talks with the United States.
China’s Defense Ministry countered that the USS Decatur should never have traveled through those waters in its “freedom of navigation” mission, provoking Beijing to order a Luyang-class warship to force it away from the Spratly Islands.
“The Chinese vessel took quick action and made checks against the U.S. vessel in accordance with the law, and warned it to leave the waters,” spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement.
The presence of American ships near the Chinese-claimed archipelago off the coast of the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Vietnam is “seriously threatening China’s sovereignty and security” and “seriously undermining the relations between the two countries and the two militaries,” Wu added.
A statement Monday from the U.S. Pacific Fleet blasted the Chinese response as “aggressive.”
“The PRC destroyer approached within 45 yards of Decatur’s bow, after which Decatur maneuvered to prevent a collision,” spokesman Charlie Brown said.
The Decatur had been conducting what the American military calls freedom of navigation operations, or missions to promote international lawfulness in oceanic territory claimed by multiple countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Washington has said the aim is to reject what it considers excessive maritime claims by any country.
American and Chinese warships have had close encounters in the past, he added, but Sunday’s encounter “appears to have been closer than any recent event.”
The maritime showdown came about a week after Chinese officials canceled military talks with the United States that were supposed to be held in Beijing in late September.
The government scrapped the defense-related conversations in response to American sanctions imposed last month on Chinese military personnel for purchasing Russian combat aircraft and missile supplies.
Then Beijing called off a security meeting with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Monday that had been scheduled for October, the New York Times reported.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The military strain between the world’s two largest economies has deepened even as they’re locked in an increasingly heated trade war.
Washington and Beijing hit each other with the largest round of tariffs yet last week, now covering roughly half their goods traded.
President Donald Trump ordered new levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports, and Beijing responded with tariffs on $60 billion in American products, nearing the point of running out of U.S. goods to target.
Neither side has showed signs of giving up, and there are no trade negotiations scheduled to end the commercial battle.
Trump warned in September that if Chinese President Xi Jinping refuses to budge, he will unleash tariffs on another $267 billion in Chinese imports, placing higher border taxes on basically everything the United States buys from China.
That order last year amounted to $505 billion.
BDN staff writer Beth Brogan and Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post contributed to this report.
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