By PAUL SONNE and GORDON LUBOLD
U.S. oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch, shown in 2002, which deployed an underwater survey drone seized by a Chinese Navy vessel in the South China Sea, according to a U.S. defense official.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. on Friday demanded the return of a underwater survey drone snatched by a Chinese navy vessel shadowing a U.S. oceanographic survey ship in the South China Sea.
“It’s ours, it was clearly marked, we want it back, and we don’t want this to happen again,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
It was the first time the government in Beijing has seized a piece of U.S. military gear since the Chinese took a Navy surveillance plane on Hainan Island following a midair collision in April 2001. Unlike that incident, the underwater drone was on an unclassified mission and isn’t considered a particularly valuable intelligence asset.
The drone, known as an “underwater glider” and valued at approximately $150,000, wasn’t on a classified surveillance mission but was collecting bathymetric data from the sea, along with data on the water’s salinity, temperature and current flow, the Pentagon said.
The State Department lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the incident overnight and said it was addressing the issue through diplomatic channels.
The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. on Friday demanded the return of a underwater survey drone snatched by a Chinese navy vessel shadowing a U.S. oceanographic survey ship in the South China Sea.
“It’s ours, it was clearly marked, we want it back, and we don’t want this to happen again,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
It was the first time the government in Beijing has seized a piece of U.S. military gear since the Chinese took a Navy surveillance plane on Hainan Island following a midair collision in April 2001. Unlike that incident, the underwater drone was on an unclassified mission and isn’t considered a particularly valuable intelligence asset.
The drone, known as an “underwater glider” and valued at approximately $150,000, wasn’t on a classified surveillance mission but was collecting bathymetric data from the sea, along with data on the water’s salinity, temperature and current flow, the Pentagon said.
The State Department lodged a formal diplomatic protest over the incident overnight and said it was addressing the issue through diplomatic channels.
The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
There was no mention of the incident on the website of the Chinese Defense Ministry, and calls to an after-hour duty office phone there weren’t answered.
The seizure of the drone marks the latest and perhaps sharpest point of tension between U.S. and Chinese military forces in and around the South China Sea, a critical trade waterway where China has built artificial islands and laid claim to a vast swath of maritime territory, to the dismay of neighbors and U.S. officials.
A Washington-based think tank reported on Thursday that over the last several months, the Chinese have emplaced small weaponry on seven of the reclaimed islands in the South China Sea.
The incident on Thursday occurred as the U.S. Naval Ship Bowditch, which has a civilian commander, was conducting survey work along the sea floor in the South China Sea using at least two of the underwater drones about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines.
The seizure of the drone marks the latest and perhaps sharpest point of tension between U.S. and Chinese military forces in and around the South China Sea, a critical trade waterway where China has built artificial islands and laid claim to a vast swath of maritime territory, to the dismay of neighbors and U.S. officials.
A Washington-based think tank reported on Thursday that over the last several months, the Chinese have emplaced small weaponry on seven of the reclaimed islands in the South China Sea.
The incident on Thursday occurred as the U.S. Naval Ship Bowditch, which has a civilian commander, was conducting survey work along the sea floor in the South China Sea using at least two of the underwater drones about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines.
It was being shadowed by a Chinese ship, a Dalang 3, a typical occurrence when U.S. ships navigate through those waters, according to Navy and defense officials.
The Chinese ship placed a smaller boat in the water to retrieve the American drone and the U.S. ship established “bridge-to-bridge” communications with the Chinese vessel, about 500 yards away, the Pentagon said, adding that efforts by the American crew to get the Chinese ship to leave the drone in the water were unsuccessful.
The drone, which uses GPS technology, wasn’t easily rerouted away from the Chinese ship, Capt. Davis said.
The Chinese ship placed a smaller boat in the water to retrieve the American drone and the U.S. ship established “bridge-to-bridge” communications with the Chinese vessel, about 500 yards away, the Pentagon said, adding that efforts by the American crew to get the Chinese ship to leave the drone in the water were unsuccessful.
The drone, which uses GPS technology, wasn’t easily rerouted away from the Chinese ship, Capt. Davis said.
The last communication from the Chinese ship as it departed the area with the drone was: “We are returning to normal operations,” he said.
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