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.