The US Navy has released a video of a Chinese warship approaching a US destroyer in the Taiwan Strait and crossing in front of it in a manner that the US Navy described as "unsafe".
The U.S. military said the U.S. destroyer Chung Hoon and Canadian frigate Montreal were making a "routine" crossing of the strait last Saturday when the Chinese ship crossed the destroyer 137 meters along.
In the video released by the U.S. Navy on Sunday, a Chinese warship is seen blocking the road ahead of the U.S. destroyer, forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision. The U.S. destroyer did not change course.
An English-language message to the Chinese ship could be heard over the radio warning against "attempts to restrict freedom of navigation", but the exact meaning of the phrase was unclear due to the wind.
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❗️🇺🇲🇨🇳⚓Global News: China ship nearly rammed US Navy destroyer in the Taiwan Strait
Chinese warship performed an abrupt turn & passed the American destroyer Chung-Hoon at a mere 130m away. The event led the Chung-Hoon crew to quickly slow down and alter their trajectory pic.twitter.com/D46XFiYl19
— OsintTV📺 (@OsintTV) June 4, 2023
China's military on Saturday accused the United States and Canada of "deliberately raising dangers" after their fleets carried out a rare joint sailing through the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan's defence ministry on Sunday called China's actions with the U.S. and Canadian ships "provocative" and said maintaining peace and stability in the strait was a shared responsibility of free and democratic countries.
"Any measures aimed at increasing tension and danger will not contribute to regional security," it said in a statement, calling on China to respect the right to freedom of navigation.
The United States said a Chinese fighter jet carried out an "aggressive" exercise on May 26 near a U.S. military aircraft over the South China Sea in international airspace.