Chinese ships harass Navy vessel: US

Date: 3/9/2009 6:59: 00 PM

Five Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, approaching within 25 feet of the unarmed surveillance ship, the Pentagon said.

"This was a reckless, dangerous maneuver that was unprofessional" and violated international law, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

The State Department said it had protested to Chinese authorities over the incident which occurred on Sunday in the South China Sea, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Hainan Island.

"The (US) embassy in Beijing lodged a protest with the Chinese at the weekend," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood on Monday.

"We felt our vessel was inappropriately harassed. That was the point of our protest to the Chinese government."

The Chinese ships surrounded the USNS Impeccable, and after two ships came within 50 feet (15 meters), waved Chinese flags and told the Americans to leave the area, the Defense Department said in a statement.

The tension on the high seas took an odd turn at one point when the Americans sprayed water at the Chinese boats and the Chinese crew responded by stripping to their underwear.

"Because the vessels' intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself.

"The Chinese crewmembers disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet," said the Pentagon statement.

The Chinese dropped pieces of wood in the path of the American ship and two vessels moved directly in front of the USNS Impeccable, forcing it to take emergency action to avoid collision, it said.

The USNS Impeccable is a surveillance ship that gathers "underwater acoustical data," Whitman said.

The incident followed "increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels" in the past several days, the Pentagon said.

The Chinese ships included a navy intelligence ship, a government fisheries patrol vessel, a state oceanographic patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, it said.

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