One misstep here and it's world war.
Here's the view from the US Navy destroyer:
150 yards isn't that much room when you are talking about two warships of superpowers with semi-hostile relations. It takes a lot of room to stop and turn one of those ships, or to pilot them so close to another ship, so the Chinese knew EXACTLY what they were doing.
From NBC:
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement Sunday night that it shows the Chinese navy ship "execute maneuvers in an unsafe manner."
China defended its actions on Monday, saying it always respects international law. Beijing has long asserted that the Strait is part of its "exclusive economic zone" and not international waters.
Translation: "Taiwan belongs to China, so get out."
The US Destroyer, the USS Chung-Hoon, was carrying out a joint exercise on Saturday with the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal when the Chinese warship decided to play games.
"Chung-Hoon and Montreal's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the combined U.S.-Canadian commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the statement added. "The U.S. military flies, sails, and operates safely and responsibly anywhere international law allows."
You could argue that China was simply flexing in response to an American/Canadian flex, but I can't understate how important that response from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is.
A "free and open Indo-Pacific" is what allows the free world to work.
For all the leftist crying about the "imperialism" of the United States, America has been the most benevolent protector of the seas in world history. Much of this has been in our own self interest, but unlike any empire that came before, the United States Navy has kept piracy and tyranny at bay on the oceans for generations following WW2.
That ability to traverse the oceans freely is what allows commerce to exist. Most of what you buy these days is made in other nations.
Now imagine if China controlled that trade.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday that China's actions were lawful and that the U.S. "needs to reflect on the mistakes they made."
The temperature is rising out there, folks.
China's defense minister, Gen. Li Shangfu, defended his fleet's actions at a conference of defense officials from across the world on Sunday and said that while China doesn't oppose "lawful navigation," it saw some international patrols as a provocation.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the same conference, called the Shangri-La Dialogue, on Saturday that the U.S. would not "flinch in the face of bullying or coercion" from China and would not stop regularly sailing through and flying over the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
This comes less than a week after a Chinese fighter jet buzzed a US reconnaissance plane.
Anyone wanna take bets for when WW3 kicks off?
