incident in the strait
The Chinese ship is dangerously close to the American destroyer
6/4/2023 8:03 AM
Overtaking maneuvers at sea are usually performed with a large margin of safety. In the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese ship uses it in a risky operation. Perhaps the USS Cheong Hun was not an accidental target.
In the straits between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, another unfriendly confrontation between the Chinese and American armies took place. The US military said on Saturday (local time) that a Chinese warship approached the USS Chong Hun destroyer in an “unsafe manner”.
The Chinese ship overtook the “Chung Hun” in the Taiwan Strait by only 140 meters. The US military stated that the USS Chung Hoon maintained course but slowed to avoid collision. The Chinese ship later overtook it a second time and came within about 140 metres.
The USS Chung-Hoon transited the Taiwan Strait with the Canadian Navy ship HMCS Montréal. The Chinese military said it monitored the passage of the two ships, but did not report any incident. “Relevant countries deliberately cause unrest in the Taiwan Strait, deliberately stir up dangers and maliciously undermine regional peace and stability,” said military spokesman Shi Yi.
recurrence of accidents
American ships regularly pass through the strait between China and Taiwan, but they rarely do so in the company of an allied ship. The last joint passage of the US Navy with Canada occurred in September. The corridors infuriate Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway land that wants to be reunited with the mainland — using military force if necessary.
Tensions between China and the United States over the Taiwan issue have increased significantly recently. The US military recently accused China that a Chinese fighter jet carried out a “groundless aggressive maneuver” near a US reconnaissance aircraft on May 26. Tensions between the United States and China also dominate the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asia-Pacific security conference in Singapore that concludes on Sunday.
