Is China "testing the waters"?

Chinese Navy gets a little too close for comfort...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7933171.stm

Five Chinese ships have manoeuvred dangerously close to an unarmed US navy surveillance vessel in the South China Sea, the US government says.

The ships "aggressively manoeuvred" around the Impeccable "in an apparent co-ordinated effort to harass the US ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters", according to the Pentagon.

Impeccable is designed specifically to detect underwater threats such as submarines for the US navy.

The US ship sprayed one Chinese vessel with water from fire hoses to try to force it away, the Pentagon said. But the Chinese crew stripped to their underwear and carried on approaching to within 25ft 8m), it added.

When the Impeccable radioed requesting a safe path to leave the area, two Chinese vessels dropped pieces of wood in its path, forcing the US ship to make an emergency stop, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon reported three other naval incidents involving China last week:

* On Wednesday, a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a high-intensity spotlight to illuminate the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious in the Yellow Sea and, the next day, a Chinese Y-12 maritime surveillance aircraft conducted 12 fly-bys of Victorious.

* On Thursday, a Chinese frigate approached Impeccable without warning and crossed its bow at a close range of approximately 100m (yards), after which a Y-12 aircraft conducted 11 fly-bys. The frigate later crossed the US ship's bow again.

* On Saturday, a Chinese intelligence collection ship challenged Impeccable over bridge-to-bridge radio, calling her operations illegal and directing her to leave the area or "suffer the consequences".

This is not a good thing. Some think that the Chinese might just be pushing a little.

At issue in Sunday's incident is the manner in which the US navy says the Chinese vessels went beyond the usual boundaries in shadowing and harassing the Impeccable, the BBC's Kevin Connolly notes.

This may be an example of China testing the mettle of a new US administration, just as it did when it impounded a US reconnaissance aircraft immediately after George W Bush took office, he says.

It held the crew of the plane, which was in collision with a Chinese fighter jet, for 11 days, causing a serious diplomatic row between the two countries.

While relations between Beijing and Washington are complex, any sense of military competitiveness is dwarfed by America's need for China to continue buying US debt to fund its huge and growing deficit, our correspondent adds.

This is one example of how running a large deficit can be a dangerous thing. Making the deficit larger at this time is not wise. This shows how unfriendly countries can, and will, take advantage of the situation.

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