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A naval destroyer from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAN) came too close for comfort Sunday as he faced a US Navy destroyer during a brazen show of force in the sea from South China.
In one maneuver, the authorities describe the Chinese ship, a Luyang-class guided missile destroyer, as "dangerous and unprofessional", forcing the USS Decatur to change course to avoid a collision. CNN reported.
The USS Decatur is one of the many American and allied ships that sail more and more frequently in international waters in order to challenge Beijing's illegal claim on the shallow waters of the "Nine Dash Line", a last sea route. controlled by the Chinese more than a century ago. In recent months, tensions have risen sharply in the region as Chinese President Xi Jinping has stepped up land grabbing to the status of military occupation.
What began in 2014 as an apparent attempt to steal the rich oil deposits of neighboring countries in the archipelagoes between the Philippines and Vietnam has almost reached its breaking point. Shortly after the Chinese set up exploratory oil platforms in the shallow seas, Chinese ships were seen unloading hundreds of tons of sand on the fragile reefs and tropical atolls that dot the area. Xi, who told President Barack Obama in 2015 that he would not militarize artificial islands, has clearly broken his promise as Chinese military bases, runways and even nuclear power plants in international, Vietnamese and Philippine territory continue. to sprout every month the artificial earth.
It is now common for British, Japanese, Australian and American ships to sail in the region, disregarding the ceaseless warnings and orders from Chinese military officials who characterize the international presence in the region as a violation of Chinese sovereignty. US-equipped B-52 bombers have also increased sorties over China's new maritime strongholds, from regular single-plane missions to threatening multi-plane protests. (RELATED: the US military sends 100 coffins to the Korean border to collect war dead)
Just days before the collision between two destroyers, and just after the US Air Force flew over several strategic bombers, Chinese fighter aircraft carried out live fire exercises between rock outcrops.
Australia even announced that, in the face of a possible conflict, it would reopen a Second World War naval base on New Guinea in order to project its force more effectively into the South China Sea. At the same time, China has taken important steps this year to strengthen its fleet of carriers.
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