We all know that the tensions between the US and China have been elevating day by day and there is no dearth of statements and provocative actions from both the sides as well. All of this, however, started when the Chinese balloons were seen hovering over the US military establishments earlier this year and since then we have seen one incident after the another related to these two megapowers of the world. We have also heard a statement from the US side saying that China is acting very dangerously since some time now and it is just a matter of time before “someone gets hurt” suggesting to everyone that they should not be taken for granted.
Between all this, a new incident has come to light of a narrow escape between a Chinese warship and a US Destroyer vessel in the Taiwan Strait. It is reported by Reuters that “A Chinese warship came within 150 yards (137 meters) of a U.S. destroyer in the Taiwan Strait in “an unsafe manner””. China blames the US for “deliberately provoking risk” in the region while US says that it has all the rights to be in the Taiwan Strait.
US Indo-Pacific command, in a statement, said that “U.S. and Canadian navies on Saturday were conducting a joint exercise in the strait, which separates the island of Taiwan and China, when the Chinese ship cut in front of the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision”. This is an incident which should not be taken lightly as it could have been worse had either of the parties not backed out and the collision would have meant a serious escalation from both the sides.
US Command also stated that the Chinese ship’s “closest point of approach was 150 yards and its actions violated the maritime ‘Rules of the Road’ of safe passage in international waters,” which clearly is a message to the US that they were trying to force the destroyer away from the Taiwan Strait and were in no mood to back out of the exchange. We are yet to have any statement from the Chinese side on this incident.
