Chinese Ships Harassed Unarmed Navy Craft in International Waters

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From Times Online
March 13, 2009
China condemns US warship deployment as tensions mount



(Reuters)

Footage taken by the USNS Impeccable of what the ship says was harrassment by Chinese trawlers on Sunday

Jane Macartney in Beijing and Tim Reid in Washington

Chinese Navy officers reacted with annoyance today when it emerged that the United States had sent a destroyer to back up a surveillance vessel in the South China Sea after it was harassed by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sailors.

The decision by President Obama to send an armed escort for US surveillance ships in the area follows the aggressive and co-ordinated manoeuvres of five Chinese boats on Sunday. The vessels harassed and nearly collided with the unarmed USNS Impecccable.

One unidentified officer quoted in the China Daily newspaper said that the decision was disproportionate. While China’s Foreign Ministry has so far kept tight-lipped on the latest development, the decision to run such a comment so swiftly in the state-run English-language newspaper was a signal of Beijing’s concerns.

One naval source said the PLA had taken note of the latest US move and was watching developments closely.

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Another described the deployment of the USS Chung-Hoon, armed with torpedoes and missiles, as a signal of the Pentagon’s intention to “keep on pressing” China in the South China Sea.

He added: “The timing and the extent have gone beyond what you could call proportionate.”

Top Chinese officers accused the unarmed US Navy ship that it disturbed last Sunday of being on a spying mission. They said they had made repeated representations to the United States to stop sailing so close to Chinese waters and within its exclusive economic zone.

The US keeps a close eye on China’s arsenal, including its fleet of submarines in the area. Washington says the confrontation occurred in international waters, but Beijing claims nearly all the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with five other nations that have claims over different parts of the waters.

The episode complicated fragile military relations between the US and China, which appeared to have improved after the two held defence talks in Beijing last month. President Obama yesterday called for more military dialogue with China to avoid similar incidents after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, the White House said.

“The President also stressed the importance of raising the level and frequency of military-to-military dialogue,” it said.

A hotline was established between the Chinese Defence Ministry and the Pentagon in April last year, but it was not used during or after Sunday’s standoff, defence officials said.

This is far from the first time the US Navy has sent vessels to patrol off China in recent years. Many have wielded far more potent fire power.

In November 2007, after China cancelled a port call by the American Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier to Hong Kong, the Pentagon ordered the group to sail through the narrow Taiwan Strait, in a move that was certain to anger Beijing. The previous such transit was in 2002, by the USS Constellation and its battle group.

In July and August 1995 - after China carried out missile tests targeting waters around Taiwan to try to intimidate the rulers of the island it sees as a renegade province - the USS Nimitz sailed through the Taiwan Strait. In March 1996, when China carried out another round of missile tests off Taiwan, the United States sent two aircraft carrier groups - the Independence and the Nimitz - to waters off Taiwan, but they stayed out of the narrow strait to avoid any clash.

Fu Mengzi, assistant president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said the latest incident should be interpreted separately from President Obama's China policy and was due to the influence of American military officers.

He told the China Daily: “Obama seeks cooperation with China. But some hawkish US military officers don't like it, which led to the spat over the sea confrontation."

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Destroyer to Protect Ship Near China

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 13, 2009; Page A12

The U.S. Navy has dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the South China Sea after Chinese ships allegedly harassed an American ship operating there last weekend, a Pentagon official said yesterday.

The USS Chung-Hoon, armed with torpedoes and missiles, is stationed in protection of the USNS Impeccable, an ocean surveillance ship. On Sunday, five Chinese vessels surrounded the Impeccable, which is unarmed. The Chinese ships approached to within 25 feet and blocked the Impeccable's path with pieces of wood, the official said.

"Chung-Hoon is there, in the area, keeping an eye on Impeccable, which continues lawful military operations," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Hawaii-based destroyer, with a crew of about 275, was in the region for a regularly scheduled deployment and was diverted to the escort mission, the official said. "It's not like we specially deployed another ship," he said.

Pentagon officials did not say whether such escorts will now be routine for surveillance ships in the area, but they suggested that this one will continue for the duration of the Impeccable's current operation.

The arrival of the destroyer underscores the Pentagon's determination to continue with the surveillance mission in spite of China's claims that it represents an illegal military activity -- aimed, according to Chinese experts, at monitoring submarine activity south of Hainan Island.

It also signaled heightened U.S.-China tensions on a day when President Obama met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the White House.

The two leaders called for strengthening cooperation to build "a positive and constructive" relationship, according to a White House statement.

Obama stressed "the importance of raising the level and frequency of the U.S.-China military-to-military dialogue in order to avoid future incidents," the White House said. National security adviser James L. Jones also raised the weekend's incident in an earlier meeting with Yang, according to the statement.

Washington protested the incident Monday, but China rejected the charges, saying the U.S. vessel was conducting illegal surveying activities in one of China's exclusive economic zones.

Washington and Beijing have voiced a desire to cooperate on issues ranging from the global economic crisis to North Korea. In their meeting, Obama and Yang "agreed that China and the U.S. must work closely and urgently, as two of the world's leading economies, to stabilize the global economy by stimulating demand at home and abroad, and get credit markets flowing," the White House said.

Obama also expressed hope for progress in the Chinese government's dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader.

[Ryan Ruck]

And again with a different ship this time.

U.S.: Chinese Ships Come Dangerously Close to American Vessel

The Pentagon Tuesday played down a confrontation between Chinese vessels and one of its Navy surveillance ships, taking a decidedly more low-key tone than during similar incidents two months ago.

Two defense officials said there have been four incidents in the past month in which Chinese-flagged fishing vessels maneuvered too close to two unarmed ships staffed by civilians and used by the Pentagon to do underwater surveillance and submarine hunting missions. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss some of the incidents and details that the Pentagon has not yet released.

The Pentagon did release a brief statement on the latest incident in which two Chinese fishing vessels came to within 30 yards of the USNS Victorius Friday as it was operating in the Yellow Sea.

The Victorious crew sounded its alarm and shot water from its fire hoses to try to deter the vessels in an hour-long incident, one official said. But the vessels didn't leave until the Victorious radioed a nearby Chinese military vessel for help, said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

After incidents in March that included similar though less aggressive Chinese maneuvers, the Pentagon protested to Beijing officials and issued a strong public statement calling the Chinese actions harassment.

But on Tuesday, Whitman declined to characterize what the Chinese vessels were trying to do, saying only that their actions were "unsafe and dangerous."

Asked why the tone of the U.S. statement was muted this time, he said: "We will be developing a way forward to deal with this diplomatically."

"USNS Victorious was conducting routine operations on Friday, May 1 in international waters in the Yellow Sea in accordance with customary international law, when two Chinese fishing vessels closed in on and maneuvered in close proximity to the Victorious," the Pentagon said in its statement. "The intentions of the Chinese fishing vessels were not known."

It said the Victorious radioed the WAGOR 17 Chinese government ship, which came and shined a light on one of the fishing vessels. Both of the fishing vessels then moved away.

"WAGOR 17 took positive steps, pursuant to their obligation under Article 94 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, to ensure their flagged vessels navigate safely," the statement said.

[Ryan Ruck]

USNS Victorious



Similar to the USNS Impeccable that was harassed earlier.

[American Patriot]

4 times this last month I just heard

[Malsua]

Need to arm those water cannons with gasoline and light 'er up.

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From Times Online
May 6, 2009
Chinese and American ships clash again in Yellow Sea


(Frederic J Browne/EPA)

A US destroyer docks in the northern Chinese port of Qingdao. Relations between the two countries' navies remain tense

Jane Macartney in Beijing

China demonstrated its growing naval confidence again in the latest standoff between American and Chinese ships.

The fifth such incident in two months occurred on Friday in the Yellow Sea when a US Navy surveillance ship turned its fire hoses on two Chinese fishing vessels.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the American ship was operating in China’s exclusive economic zone without permission and had violated Chinese and international laws. “We express our concern about this and demand the US side take effective measures to ensure a similar incident does not happen again,” he said.

The USNS Victorious, an ocean surveillance ship designed for anti-submarine warfare and underwater mapping, was conducting what the Pentagon called routine operations in the waters between China and the Korean peninsula. The Chinese vessels came within 100ft (30 metres) of the vessel.

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The Pentagon, which accused five Chinese fishing vessels of harassing another US surveillance ship in the South China Sea near Hainan island in March, cited the incident as an example of unsafe Chinese seamanship.
The Chinese vessels did not withdraw until after the Victorious had sounded an alarm and a Chinese military ship, identified by the Pentagon as WAGOR 17, arrived in response to the call for assistance. It shone a light on the fishing vessels until they left.

The Pentagon earlier played down the confrontation, striking a more low-key tone than during the incident two months ago.

A spokesman for the US Defence Department suggested that the United States was looking to avoid the kind of angry exchanges that followed the March incident. He said: “We will be developing a way forward to deal with this diplomatically.”

The comments by the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry were also less strident than in March, when Beijing accused the US of distorting the truth.

Niu Jun, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said that both sides could do more to calm tensions. “The US should make its intention more transparent. But the two sides should also have talks on this issue and establish a mechanism to solve it,” he said.

It was not the first time the Victorious had encountered Chinese boats. On April 7 and April 8, Chinese-flagged fishing vessels approached the ship and the USNS Loyal as they operated within China’s 200-mile economic zone.

[Ryan Ruck]

Fishing Boat Incidents Indicate Troubling Rift With China, Admiral Says

The top U.S. officer in the Pacific called recent Chinese harassment of U.S. Navy ships "troublesome" and lamented China's refusal to resume military-to-military dialogue as a lost opportunity to promote understanding that could prevent conflict.

Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, admitted he's as baffled as anyone by the May 1 incident in which two Chinese fishing boats closed in on and maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Victorious in international waters in the Yellow Sea. That followed on the heels of a March 8 incident in which five Chinese vessels surrounded and harassed the USNS Impeccable as it was conducting operations 80 nautical miles off Hainan Island.

"Their behavior is troublesome," Keating told American Forces Press Service during a flight to India. Chinese vessels defied maritime 'rules of the road,' he said, but also posed a danger to ships operating in accordance with international law.

Keating dismissed any Chinese challenges regarding the right of U.S. Navy ships to operate in China's economic exclusion zone, or EEZ. He noted that 40 percent of the world's waters constitute one or more nations' EEZs, and that other countries' ships regularly operate within them.

"Our ships are operating in accordance with international law and standard rules of the road, and our standing rules of engagement," he said. The Chinese, by harassing them, "are conducting themselves in … ways that are just not done by normal seafaring men and women."

Bothersome as the incidents are, Keating said, he's even more troubled that there's no military-to-military dialogue between the United States and China to make sure incidents like these don't get out of hand.

China suspended U.S.-Sino military-to-military relations after the U.S. government's announcement in October that it was selling arms to Taiwan. The suspension halted what Keating had considered promising developments.

"In our view, we were making reasonable progress," he said. "We were engendering friendship and improving understanding and a more transparent dialogue."

That progress proceeded despite roadblocks China put in the way – including its sudden denial of port access to the USS Kitty Hawk battle group during the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.

"You just don't deny safe harbor to ships that are in need," Keating said. "But we had moved beyond that incident."

That included a new defense hotline for U.S. and Chinese military leaders. It got its first operational use to coordinate U.S. humanitarian support after a devastating earthquake hit southern China last May.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Chinese military delegations conducted senior-level exchanges. Keating made several visits. Another exchange, led by Pacom's senior enlisted advisor, Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Jim Roy, took a delegation of senior enlisted leaders to China. The Chinese reciprocated with a similar visit to Pacom's headquarters in Honolulu.

Keating hasn't been back to China since it severed military ties with the United States, and he conceded he's disappointed that China brought an abrupt halt to progress being made.

He said he wants to see the suspended Military Maritime Consultative Agreement talks, focused on maritime safety, continue. He wants to see China participate in – or at least observe – humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and search-and-rescue exercises.

"We are not able to engage in any of those activities, and in my mind, those are opportunities lost," Keating said. "It is not helpful."

But he's particularly concerned about the potential consequences of cutting off communications. There's no direct way to pick up the phone, dial a number and tell his Chinese counterparts, "I am calling you to tell you I don't understand what you are doing," he said.

"It would be helpful to understand so we don't have confusion," he said. "If confusion persists, that can lead to some sort of confrontation. And confrontation … can engender a crisis."

And a crisis, if not abated, could lead to conflict, he said.

Keating expressed concern that misunderstandings between the United States and China could escalate if they're not nipped in the bud through simple communication.

"Every day that goes by that we don't have an ability to discuss -- whether it is fairly tactical or broad strategic issues" – with China's military represents "opportunities not realized," he said.

[Ryan Ruck]

They are growing bolder. It wasn't an unarmed ship this time.

Chinese Sub Collides With Sonar Array Towed By U.S. Navy Ship

In what a U.S. military official calls an "inadvertent encounter," a Chinese submarine hit an underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS John McCain on Thursday.

The array was damaged, but the sub and the ship did not collide, the official said. A sonar array is a device towed behind a ship that listens and locates underwater sounds.

The incident occurred near Subic Bay off the coast of the Philippines.

The official, who declined to be named because the incident had not been made public, would not say whether the U.S. ship knew the submarine was that close to it.

However, the Navy does not believe this was a deliberate incident of Chinese harassment, as it would have been extremely dangerous had the array gotten caught in the submarine's propellers.

The Navy has complained in the past that Chinese vessels, including fishing boats, have deliberately tried to disrupt U.S. naval activities in international waters near China. In one widely publicized incident in March, five Chinese vessels maneuvered close enough to the USNS Impeccable to warrant the use of a fire hose by the unarmed American vessel to avoid a collision. The Navy later released video of that incident.

[Ryan Ruck]

Playing Tag With The Chinese

On June 11, the American destroyer USS John McCain, while training off Subic Bay in the Philippines, had its towed sonar array collide with a Chinese submarine. The U.S. Navy did not reveal if the American ship had detected the sub before the collision. If the array was not activated, its sound (sonar) detectors would not have detected the sub. The Chinese admitted the sub was one of theirs, and the boat was apparently following the American ship unaware that a sonar array (which usually operates over a hundred meters beneath the surface, and two kilometers behind the ship towing it) was there.

The Chinese sub was probably a diesel-electric sub, which is a lot quieter under water than one of their nuclear powered models. The incident brings up memories of similar incidents with Russian subs during the Cold War. Some of these collisions were believed to be intelligence operations, an effort to grab portions of the American sonar array for examination (and reverse engineering.)

U.S. anti-submarine forces (subs, aircraft and surface ships) are increasingly playing tag with Chinese subs. As was done with Russian subs during the Cold War, the American sailors want to hone their skills at finding Chinese subs. All this effort is kept quite secret, as any information about American successes or failures, can be useful to the Chinese.