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China hits out at US on navy row China hits out at US on navy row
(30 minutes later)
China says a US Navy ship involved in a confrontation with its vessels off the southern island of Hainan violated international law.China says a US Navy ship involved in a confrontation with its vessels off the southern island of Hainan violated international law.
Beijing's comments follow a formal US complaint to China's military attache at the Pentagon over the incident, which happened on Sunday. Foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said US complaints that five Chinese vessels had harassed the USNS Impeccable were "totally inaccurate".
The US said five Chinese ships manoeuvred dangerously close to an unarmed navy surveillance vessel. China had asked the US to stop these activities immediately, he said.
A Chinese spokesman said that the claims were "totally unacceptable". The US has complained to China's military attache at the Pentagon over the incident, which happened on Sunday.
"The US claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing. The US said the Chinese ships manoeuvred dangerously close to an unarmed US navy surveillance vessel while it was on routine operations in international waters 75 miles (120km) south of Hainan island.
The US said the incident happened as the USNS Impeccable was on routine operations in international waters 75 miles (120km) south of Hainan island. The ships "aggressively manoeuvred" around the Impeccable "in an apparent co-ordinated effort to harass the US ocean surveillance ship", a Pentagon statement said.
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", a Pentagon statement said. The Pentagon identified the Chinese boats as a naval intelligence-gathering ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel, and two small trawlers.
Sunday's incident followed days of "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships, US officials said.
China called the US complaints unacceptable.
"The US claims are gravely in contravention of the facts and confuse black and white," Mr Ma said.
The Impeccable is designed specifically to detect underwater threats such as submarines for the US navy.
Aggressive manoeuvring by ships of rival navies in sensitive international waters is not uncommon, correspondents say.
But Washington was sufficiently disturbed by the incident involving the Impeccable to make its concerns public.