The Chinese destroyer ‘conducted a series of increasingly aggressive maneuvers accompanied by warnings for the USS Decatur to depart the area.’
A Chinese warship came within just 135 feet from colliding into the U. S. Navy destroyer USS Decatur on Sunday, according to ABC News. The destroyer had to quickly maneuver out of the warship’s way just to avoid a collision.
U. S. Pacific Fleet Spokesman Capt. Charlie Brown said a Chinese Luyang destroyer approached the Decatur “in an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the South China Sea at approximately 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, China first took over the rock located in the Spratly Islands in 1988. China, in addition, claims seven other islands in the chain as their own.
The U. S. says the encounter with the Chinese destroyer came as the U. S. Navy conducted its Freedom of Navigation Operation Program, or FONOP, in the small chain of islands.
The program is supposed to be routine and uneventful.
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ABC News reports that the “U. S. Navy routinely undertakes FONOP missions worldwide to challenge excessive territorial claims of international shipping lanes.”
However, as the USS Decatur came within 12 nautical miles from the Gaven and Johnson Reefs, the Chinese destroyer began to make its way toward the U.
