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The granular surveillance photos are similar to those of the Cold War. But they were captured early this week, when a US Navy destroyer had to change course to avoid a collision with a Chinese warship somewhere in the South China Sea.
The images show two ships apparently crossing side by side at a dangerous distance of only 45 meters. Check out these photos.
This is the kind of incident that military strategists could use in a war planning scenario to explain how one thing can lead to another, and two world powers could quickly end up in a serious, even nuclear, confrontation.
Related: The risks of a new cold war between the United States and China are real: here's why
"It should disturb people," said Professor Lyle Goldstein of the China Maritime Studies Institute at US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. "We had better be cautious and judicious restraint."
But Goldstein says it's important not to embarrass all kinds of possibilities.
"Seeing warships nearby is very dangerous. This represents a lot of tension in US-China relations right now. But Goldstein said, "We do not want to exaggerate the danger here. "
Goldstein is the author of a new book titled "Meeting China Halfway: Defusing Emerging US-Chinese Rivalry".
The US ship involved in this week's incident in the South China Sea was the USS Decatur. It led what the US military calls a "freedom of navigation operation". These missions are partly of a symbolic nature and are intended to underline the fact that the South China Sea is recognized by international law as a shipping lane open to ships from all countries. .
China considers that most of the South China Sea is a sovereign Chinese territory. The neighbors of the United States and China do not recognize these claims. In fact, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have all made their national claims on some of these resource-rich waters.
It may not be necessary for the United States to completely stop the operations of freedom of navigation, says Goldstein.
"We want to be a little cautious," he adds, with the frequency and routes traveled by US military planes and ships.
"If China undertook a program of freedom of navigation exercises, for example in the Caribbean, off the coast of Florida or the state of Washington, where we have very sensitive military facilities, that would we would of course be upset and nervous. "
However, according to Elizabeth Economy of the Council on Foreign Relations, the risk is more immediate. She is the author of "The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State".
"What the United States stands for is the principle, it's a global principle, an international principle of freedom of navigation," said Economy.
"It's not just a problem between the United States and China. It is a question of international law. The United Kingdom, France and Japan are all undertaking similar operations for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. "
"These are controversial areas in which the international court has ruled that China's sovereignty does not extend," Economy said.
The dispute also concerns resources, fishing rights and offshore drilling rights. What has changed in recent years is that China has built artificial islands in the South China Sea and has installed military outposts.
And the Chinese army is much more capable than it was several years ago, says Ely Ratner of the Center for a New American Security.
"China is not satisfied with the status quo and is trying to change the rules and institutions of international politics to its liking. And in this sense, the South China Sea is truly a microcosm of China's broader efforts to establish a sphere of influence in Asia, "said Ratner.
A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry released this week warned the United States against any "provocative" action aimed at not harming Sino-US relations, peace and stability in the region.
Jia Xiudong, of the Chinese Institute of International Studies, however, told the BBC that there were many areas in which both parties could – and should – work together.
"China does not intend to challenge the United States, nor even to question the existing international order. We are in the same boat. We should row in the same direction. That is, we should cooperate with each other, "said Jia.
Goldstein is in agreement. And he cites North Korea as the most urgent problem that Washington and Beijing should work on together. Then there is climate change, the Middle East, Afghanistan and others, he adds.
The consequences of the recent tsunami in Indonesia are another, said Goldstein.
"I would like to see the Chinese Navy and the US Navy in a crisis response mode, in which the two navies move their forces into the area where they can help, hopefully, side by side ", did he declare.
"This is the kind of security architecture I would like to see in the Western Pacific that could deal with real problems, not negotiating rocks and reefs, or using different legalistic definitions of different areas, but actually helping people. in need today, "says Goldstein.
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