The U.S. accused Chinese ships of surrounding and harassing its Navy vessel in international waters, coming within 25 feet (8 meters) of the USNS Impeccable, stopping dead in front of it and strewing debris in its path. Some of the Chinese crew even stripped to their underwear after a blast by U.S. fire hoses.
"They seem to be more militarily aggressive," U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. "I think the debate is still on in China whether as their military power increases they will be used for good or for pushing people around."
He called Sunday's incident the most serious episode between the two nations since 2001, when a U.S. surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet near the same area.
China's Foreign Ministry said the American ship "broke international and Chinese laws in the South China Sea without China's permission."
The incident will likely be discussed when Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visits Washington this week. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing lodged a protest with the Foreign Ministry and said the Navy mapping vessel had been conducting "routine operations ... in accordance with customary international law."
The latest confrontation between U.S. surveillance craft and Chinese coastal defenses took place in international waters in the South China Sea about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of China's Hainan Island, the home of numerous Chinese naval installations.
Observers said Beijing appeared to be asserting its claim to refuse rights to foreign navies wanting to carry out surveillance within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The zone, under international law, gives a state certain rights over the use of natural resources there. Shen Dingli, director of the Center of American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University, said China wants to exert control in the waters beyond economic interests.
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