A Navy file photo shows T-AGS 60 Class Oceanographic Survey Ship, USNS Bowditch. The Navy says the ship’s mission includes oceanographic sampling and data collection and the handling, monitoring and servicing of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), among other things. U.S. Navy
China Seizes U.S. Underwater Drone From International Waters, Pentagon Says
NPR: A unmanned underwater vehicle deployed by a U.S. Navy ship in international waters has been seized by China, according to Pentagon officials.
The seizure of the underwater vehicle took place Thursday, about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement Friday
The situation is unusual: U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told journalists there was no precedent for it in recent memory, NPR’s Tom Bowman reports.
The Pentagon says that the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, had two unclassified “ocean gliders” — unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) — in the water, conducting “routine operations in accordance with international law.” The undersea drones measure things like salinity and temperature, the Pentagon says.
The Bowditch was retrieving one vehicle when a Chinese warship pulled up, put a small boat in the water and retrieved the second UUV, officials told reporters.
The U.S. sent radio messages requesting that the drone be returned, the Pentagon statement says, but the Chinese ship merely acknowledged the messages and ignored the request.
No shots were fired by either vehicle, officials said, and the Chinese ship left with a final message that it was returning to normal operations — and with the drone.
The U.S. has issued a demarche — a formal diplomatic protest — and demanded the drone’s return, Reuters reports.
“We call upon China to return our UUV immediately, and to comply with all of its obligations under international law,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in his statement.
The incident occurred in the long-disputed waters of the South China Sea, where several countries make various overlapping territorial claims. China has been the most aggressive in claiming the strategically and economically significant waters as its own.
Competing Claims In The South China And East China Seas
These are the approximate claims by China and other countries. In many cases, countries are intentionally vague about the extent of their claims.
Highlighting new areas of Chinese construction on Mischief Reef, a monitoring group says that in addition to an airstrip, the artificial island will likely be outfitted with large anti-aircraft guns and a cruise missile defense system.
NPR: China “appears to have built significant point-defense capabilities” on artificial islands in the South China Sea, says a think tank that cites new satellite imagery showing hexagonal gun platforms and other recent construction.
In vivid color, the photos show what the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative says is an array of anti-aircraft guns, cruise missile defenses, in nearly identical emplacements on islands created on large reefs to serve as outposts in the Spratly Islands.
In recent years, tensions around the islands have been an undercurrent in America’s relationship with China, featuring in talks between President Obama and President Xi Jinping and raising the specter of escalating shows of military might in the area.
China’s military emplacement on Fiery Cross Reef includes “four structures, consisting of tiered hexagonal towers oriented toward the sea,” according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. CSIS/AMTI/DigitalGlobe
Discussing the satellite photos that were taken in recent weeks, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative Director Gregory Poling told Voice of America, “This is further evidence that the commitment that President Xi Jinping made to President [Barack] Obama last year not to militarize these islands was, at best, premature.”
The new military emplacements are being highlighted months after an international tribunal in The Hague invalidated China’s claims in the South China Sea. That unprecedented ruling also found that China’s build-up of artificial islands in the region was also harming natural ecosystems.
China’s leaders rejected that decision, which came in a case that was brought by the Philippines. In addition to those two countries, parts of the South China Sea are also claimed by Taiwan, Malaysia, the Vietnam and others.
The disputed areas include busy shipping lanes in the sea, along with a wealth of natural resources, from fishing grounds to underground oil and gas reserves.
“But the dispute is not just about economic assets,” as our Parallels blog reported earlier this year. “The sea’s strategic location near half a dozen East and Southeast Asian countries means those countries want to control the military and civilian activities in the area.”
Providing analysis of China’s military goals in the islands, the AMTI says:
“These gun and probable CIWS emplacements show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea. Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others against these soon-to-be-operational air bases. They would back up the defensive umbrella provided by a future deployment to the Spratlys of mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) platforms, such as the HQ-9 deployed to Woody Island in the Paracel Islands.”
As the Parallels blog noted, “The potential for deteriorating cross-strait relations puts the United States in a tough spot — it must uphold its security commitments to Taiwan while avoiding confrontation with Chinese vessels patrolling Taiwanese islands.”