By the normal rules for ensuring navigational safety ‘there’s no way we would see ships getting so close’, analyst says The incident happened when a Chinese Luyang-class destroyer sailed within 41 metres (135 feet) of the USS Decatur in an operation described by Washington as “unsafe and unprofessional” and by Beijing as a necessary defence […]

The proposal, which comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China, has yet to be approved. In recent weeks, Washington and Beijing have quarreled over trade, sanctions, Taiwan, repeated bomber flights over disputed seas, and a confrontation between US and Chinese warships. The US military is reportedly planning to put on […]

After the “close encounter of the unsafe kind” last week between US Navy destroyer USS Decatur and Chinese destroyer Lanzhou during a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) conducted by the American ship in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the Spratlys, the US Pacific Fleet is drafting a classified proposal for a series of operations […]

Tensions between between Washington and Beijing in the South China Sea appear to have spiked in recent days. The situation there is already fraught, as many countries have challenged China over its expansive claims and its construction on contested territory. The US, China, and the Philippines have already had a showdown over one of those […]

Freedom of navigation operation will take place amid rising tensions and near-collision between USS Decatur and Chinese vessel The United States Pacific Fleet has drawn up a plan for a major show of force as a warning to China that will indicate its determination to counter Beijing’s military activity, it was reported on Thursday amid […]

WASHINGTON — US Vice President Mike Pence, sharpening US criticism of Chinese policies around the globe, will give China a blunt warning on Thursday that the United States will not back down from what Washington sees as Chinese intimidation in the South China Sea. Pence will deliver an address at the Hudson Institute think tank […]

BEIJING — A Chinese destroyer came aggressively close to a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea, forcing it to maneuver to prevent a collision, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday, describing an encounter that could worsen tensions between the nations. The Chinese warship approached the USS Decatur in an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” […]

A Chinese destroyer sent to escort the USS Decatur on a ‘freedom of navigation’ sail-by in the disputed South China Sea came dangerously close and forced the US vessel to maneuver to “prevent collision,” the US Navy said. The encounter between the US and Chinese Navies unfolded on Sunday morning when the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, […]

BEIJING – China expressed anger on Tuesday after a US Navy destroyer sailed near islands claimed by China in the disputed South China Sea, saying it resolutely opposed an operation that it called a threat to its sovereignty. Beijing and Washington are locked in a trade war in which they have imposed increasingly severe rounds […]

A Chinese warship has forced an American destroyer to change course in the South China Sea by sailing close to it in an “unsafe and unprofessional” manner, the US Navy says. The USS Decatur was sailing past the Gaven and Johnson reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands, which China claims. The Luyang destroyer “approached within […]