U.S. protests harassment by Chinese vessels

[unhappycamper]

The Defense Department said that a Chinese intelligence ship and several others surrounded the USNS Impeccable, an unarmed vessel with a civilian merchant marine crew.


U.S. protests harassment by Chinese vessels
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Mar 9, 2009 17:55:55 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration vowed Monday to keep up military surveillance in waters off China and protested to China about what it called harassment of an American ship doing that work last week.

The Pentagon charged that a Chinese intelligence gathering vessel and four others “shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close” to the USNS Impeccable surveillance ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, then threw obstacles in the water as it tried to leave.

In an odd twist, the unarmed Impeccable, which is operated for the Navy by civilian mariners, turned fire hoses on one vessel that came within 50 feet of it. The Chinese crew stripped to their underwear, then closed to within 25 feet.

A Pentagon spokesman called that “immature” and said the Chinese behaved recklessly and in violation of international law.

“We view these as unprofessional maneuvers,” spokesman Bryan Whitman said.


Rest of article at: http://navytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_china_sealiftship_030909w/%2e