U.S.-China Naval Incident: A Chinese Perspective

Editor's note: The following is an unsolicited response to the World Politics Review Briefing, "An Impeccable U.S.-China Incident at Sea."

As both a newsand analysis journal, WPR recognizes that some articles it publisheswill provoke differences of opinion and disagreements ofinterpretation. Our commitment is to airing all sides of acontested issue, so long as they are respectfully expressed.

On March 10, 2009, the U.S. Navy surveillance ship Impeccable intruded into Chinese jurisdictional waters, inducing a confrontation with five Chinese ships. The incident raised tension in the South China Sea, which has been the site of international confrontations recently.

According to the Chinese side, the incident took place within its 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Because the surveillance ship was conducting illegal survey activity without China's permission, it had badly violated international and Chinese law. The U.S. ship's action constituted a kind of aggression that could not be overlooked, because it severely damaged Chinese national interests in its maritime belt. The U.S. side should stop such provocative activities and take effective measures to prevent similar incidents from reoccuring.