The Chinese Navy is already upping the ante from its harassment of two U.S. naval vessels in international waters last week. How the Obama administration responds will determine whether America maintains its naval superiority in Asia and upholds recognized standards of maritime behavior.
In the more aggressive encounter of two encounters, five Chinese ships, an intelligence ship, a maritime fisheries patrol vessel, an oceanographic administration patrol vessel, and two fishing trawlers, surrounded the USNS Impeccable, drawing as close as 25 feet, stopping directly in front of the vessel, and strewing wood in its path. The Impeccable‘s sister ship, the Victorious, had a high-beam searchlight trained on its bridge and was repeatedly buzzed by Chinese reconnaissance aircraft.
