US and Chinese Warships Nearly Collide in Taiwan Strait

Images have been released depicting the near collision between the US destroyer US Chung-Hoon, engaged in a joint Canada-US activity on freedom of navigation, and a Chinese warship in the Strait of Taiwan. The images date back to June 3 and show the boats just over 100 meters away. According to an initial reconstruction, the Chinese unit set course to cut off the bow of the US destroyer whose crew advised by radio to change course to avoid the collision.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended the Chinese ship’s maneuver in the Taiwan Strait, saying it was undertaken “in accordance with the law”. “China’s military actions are completely justified, legal, safe and professional,” he told reporters in Beijing, “it is the United States that should reflect deeply on itself and correct the wrong actions.”

On Saturday, however, the commander of the Montreal, Captain Paul Mountford, had defined the unprofessional move and the incident “clearly instigated by the Chinese. The fact that this was announced on the radio before we did it clearly indicated that it was intentional.” The ship of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, according to the reconstruction, ordered the American one to change course and move away to avoid the collision. Mountford said he also urged the destroyer to act promptly to avoid the accident. The Americans, on the other hand, responded by asking the Chinese side to stay away, but in the end the Chung-Hoon had to change course and slow down to avoid a crash that was considered inevitable without the appropriate corrections. The episode is the latest in a series in which the US accused China “of aggressiveness and unprofessionalism” in the seas and in the air.