The U.S. is accusing China of provocation after a Chinese warship nearly collided with the USS Chung-Hoon, according to reports.
The incident occurred on Saturday while the U.S. was conducting joint exercises with Canada in the Taiwan Strait amid brewing tensions between Taiwan and China.
Canada’s Global News reported that the Chinese destroyer sped up and cut in front of the U.S. ship’s bow, warning the latter ship that there would be a collision if it didn’t change course.
The Chinese ship was warned by the U.S. to steer clear of the destroyer, but at the last second, they changed course. The close call also reportedly led the Chung-Hoon to slow down and change its path.
HMCS Montreal Commander Paul Mountford called the incident “not professional” on the Chinese’s part, saying it was “clearly instigated by the Chinese.”
“The fact this was announced over the radio prior to doing it, clearly indicated this was intentional,” he added, according to the Canadian news outlet. “I am hoping that is an isolated incident that won’t happen again for us, because we have international law on our side. This is international waters.”
Despite the strait being regarded as international seas, the Chinese had warned the vessels from the U.S. and Canada that they were in Chinese territorial waters. Chinese ships had been following the joint U.S.-Canadian for the last week before entering the Taiwan Strait.
“Canada will continue to sail where international law allows, including the Strait, the South China Sea,” said Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand.
“Our overall goal is to increase the peace and stability of this region. And that’s why we are going to continue to see more of Canada in this region as set out in our Indo-Pacific strategy. We’ve already seen unsafe intercepts, and we have addressed those appropriately with China in terms of our RCAF pilots. Actors in this region must engage responsibly, and that’s the bottom line,” she added.
This comes as U.S. allies are reportedly preparing for the possibility of war over Taiwan, thanks to the Biden administration’s meddling with both Taiwan and China.
Axios reported recently that several world leaders have started to distance themselves from the China-Taiwan sovereignty issue as tensions continue to rise between the U.S. and China.
