U.S. protests China’s ‘harassment’ at sea

March 10, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration vowed Monday to keep up military surveillance in waters off China and protested to China about what it called harassment of an American ship doing that work last week.

The Pentagon charged that a Chinese intelligence gathering vessel and four others “shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close” to the USNS Impeccable surveillance ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, then threw obstacles in the water as it tried to leave.

In an odd twist, the unarmed Impeccable, which is operated for the Navy by civilian mariners, turned fire hoses on one vessel that came within 50 feet of it. The Chinese crew stripped to their underwear, then closed to within 25 feet.

A Pentagon spokesman called that “immature” and said the Chinese behaved recklessly and in violation of international law.

“We view these as unprofessional maneuvers,” spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

The U.S. Navy surveillance ships tow sonar equipment that probes the ocean to gather acoustic data and detect underwater threats. The craft was specifically designed to augment the Navy’s anti-submarine capability, although military spokesmen would not be specific about the Impeccable’s duties.

The incident came just a week after China and the U.S. resumed military-to-military consultations after a five-month suspension over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. And it came as Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was due in Washington to meet with U.S. officials.

In Beijing, Chinese officials did not immediately respond to voice-mail messages and e-mail regarding the U.S. allegations.

Pentagon officials said the incident followed “increasingly aggressive” acts by Chinese ships against the Impeccable on Wednesday and Saturday and against the USNS Victorious surveillance ship Thursday while it operated in the Yellow Sea.

“We’re going to continue to operate in those international waters, and we expect the Chinese to observe international law around that,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

A protest was lodged with the Chinese government by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing over the weekend and was repeated to a Chinese defense attach by Defense Department East Asia policy officials at a Pentagon meeting Monday.

The Chinese ships included a Chinese Navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, officials said.

The Chinese vessels surrounded the Impeccable, and two got close enough for the crew to see people waving Chinese flags and telling the American ship to leave, the Pentagon said in a statement. Not knowing what the Chinese intended, the Impeccable crew sprayed fire hoses at one ship in self-defense, the statement said. “The Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet,” the statement said.

Shortly afterward, two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the Impeccable, forcing it to an emergency stop. The Chinese also dropped pieces of wood in the water in front of Impeccable’s path.

China views almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory.