This morning, Reuters tweeted that a Chinese ship had seized an unmanned U.S. naval vessel in the South China Sea. The drone was conducting research in international waters and was about to be picked up by its mothership, the USNS Bowditch, when the Chinese captured it.
BREAKING: China's navy has seized an unmanned, underwater U.S. Navy vehicle in international waters of South China Sea.
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) December 16, 2016
The Chinese ship acknowledged communication to return the drone to the water, but thus far have not complied or stated why they seized the vessel.
In the last few days, China has acted very aggressively towards the United States. It seems to be in response to President-elect Donald Trump breaking with decades of precedent and speaking directly with the leader of Taiwan.
The Chinese government rebuked Trump for what they see as a breach of the “One China” policy.
In the “One China” policy, the United States keeps ties with Beijing as the sovereign head for all of China while maintaining unofficial ties with Taiwan. Trump was the first to speak with Taiwan’s government since 1979, creating a diplomatic crisis over a month before he was even sworn into the Oval Office.
The Pentagon also recently discovered that China flew a nuclear bomber outside its borders and over the contested “nine-dash line” as a warning to the incoming president.
CNBC reports that a government official, speaking on conditions of anonymity, gave this statement about China’s actions:
“The UUV was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea … It’s a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water – that it was U.S. property.”
The drone was on a non-classified scientific mission, collecting data about the ocean (such as water temperature, salinity, etc.). The Chinese seizure of the vessel seems to have no real purpose, other than as a threat.
Unless, of course, the vessel found something:
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Watch this report fore more information on the seizure below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6rOgCePDMw&ab_channel=Spotlight
Featured Image via United States Navy / CC-Public Domain.
