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| Donald Trump accuses China of 'stealing' US Navy drone in international waters | Donald Trump accuses China of 'stealing' US Navy drone in international waters |
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| Donald Trump has accused China of "stealing" a US Navy drone, after it was seized in international waters of the South China Sea. | |
| The President-elect tweeted: "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented [sic] act." | |
| The incident, which followed Mr Trump's call with the president of Taiwan, was described as one of the most serious diplomatic incidents between the two nations in recent memory. | |
| Some observers on social media mocked the President-elect's apparent misspelling of 'unprecedented'. | |
| The militaries of the two countries are reportedly in talks to discuss the return of the drone, the removal of which caused deep anger in the Pentagon. | The militaries of the two countries are reportedly in talks to discuss the return of the drone, the removal of which caused deep anger in the Pentagon. |
| A statement released by China's foreign ministry on Saturday said: "According to [our] understanding, the US and Chinese sides are working on appropriately handling this matter through channels between the two militaries." | |
| According to the US, the drone was carrying out scientific research underwater and was controlled by civilian contractors. | According to the US, the drone was carrying out scientific research underwater and was controlled by civilian contractors. |
| US officials had issued a formal diplomatic complaint to China demanding the drone's return. | US officials had issued a formal diplomatic complaint to China demanding the drone's return. |
| "It is ours. It's clearly marked as ours. We would like it back, and we would like this not to happen again," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. | |
| The drone costs about $150,000 (£120,000) and is largely commercial, off-the-shelf technology, Capt Davis added. | |
| The USNS Bowditch, which is not a combat ship, was stopped in international waters on Thursday afternoon while attempting to recover two of its gliders when the Chinese ship approached, Capt Davis said. The two vessels were within about 450 meters of each other. | |
| The Chinese ship then took the drone away. | |
| According to the Pentagon, as the Chinese ship left with the drone, which is about three meters long, its only radio response to the U.S. vessel was, "We are returning to normal operations." | |
| Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the seizure of the glider occurred inside the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, not China, and appeared to be a violation of international law. | |
| China delineates its South China Sea claims with a roughly drawn sea border known as the "nine-dash line" that runs along the west coast of the Philippines. However, it hasn't explicitly said whether it considers those waters as sovereign territory, and says it doesn't disrupt the passage of other nations' shipping through the area. The U.S. doesn't take a position on sovereignty claims, but insists on freedom of navigation, including the right of its naval vessels to conduct training and other operations in the sea. | |
| Additional reporting by AP |