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US Ship Broke Laws: China

Impeccable may have been snooping on Chinese nuclear subs

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 10, 2009 1:11 PM CDT

(Newser) – Beijing said that a US Navy surveillance ship approached by several Chinese vessels this weekend was conducting illegal information-gathering, the Washington Post reports. The US had completely misrepresented the incident in its complaint, a Foreign Ministry rep. said, as the USS Impeccable was in a "Chinese exclusive economic zone" without permission. "The US claim is totally inaccurate and confuses right and wrong and is unacceptable to China," Ma Zhaoxu added.

The propriety of the visit hinges on the Impeccable’s intent—and with a Chinese nuclear submarine base 75 miles from where the incident took place, the ship may very well have been there to snoop. Such intelligence-gathering “equals disrespect to Chinese sovereignty,” one Chinese academic said. The Pentagon maintains the ship was conducting routine operations.

Two Chinese trawlers stop directly in front of the USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea on Sunday, March 8, 2009, forcing the ship to conduct an emergency all stop in order to avoid collision.
Two Chinese trawlers stop directly in front of the USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea on Sunday, March 8, 2009, forcing the ship to conduct an emergency "all stop" in order to avoid collision.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)
The military Sealift Command ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable is seen underway on Monday, March 9, 2009.
The military Sealift Command ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable is seen underway on Monday, March 9, 2009.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)
A crewmember on a Chinese trawler uses a grapple hook in an apparent attempt to snag the towed acoustic array Sunday, March 8, 2009.
A crewmember on a Chinese trawler uses a grapple hook in an apparent attempt to snag the towed acoustic array Sunday, March 8, 2009.   (AP Photo/U.S. Navy)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Guest
Mar 11, 2009 4:34 AM CDT
Hmm...US...so credible in the world today...
riffran
Mar 10, 2009 4:37 AM CDT
The real question is.....was the ship in international waters?..If so then it's none of China's business what it was doing there......It's the usual cat and mouse game and sabre rattling....the russians did it a while back when I was still in the NAVY, they actually bumped into one of our ships, then made some claim about we hit them.....
Guest
Mar 10, 2009 3:28 AM CDT
According to the Navy, it is an oceanographic ship that gathers underwater acoustic data and has only civilians on board. Whether that is true or not? I don't know.

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