Smurf-Herder
03-09-2009, 04:18 PM
Funny how I haven't heard anything about this yet on TV.
China confrontation is test for Obama: Kirk
March 9, 2009
AFP
Washington - US President Barack Obama faces a critical "early test" from China over a tense naval standoff in the South China Sea, and the whole world is watching his response, a US lawmaker cautioned Monday.
"This story will reverberate around the world and will be carefully watched in North Korea, Iran and Syria," said Republican Representative Mark Kirk, a US Navy Reservist who was at the Pentagon when the incident occurred Sunday. "It’s surprising in that the Chinese challenged a United States ship just two and a half weeks before the Obama/Hu Jintao summit" in London in April, Kirk told AFP by telephone.
"It’s an early test" of the new US president, but "it’s right on schedule," Kirk said, noting that China similarly challenged then-president George W. Bush two months after he took office in January 2001.
The Obama administration needs to respond forcefully, perhaps by sending the unarmed surveillance ship "right back into the same area" — this time with a destroyer escort, to make clear Washington cannot be bullied in international waters, said Kirk.
And the US House of Representatives’ US-China Working Group will formally condemn the confrontation in a "strongly worded letter" to Chinese President Hu Jintao, said Kirk, who co-founded and co-chairs the group.
The group’s condemnation could get Beijing’s attention because it was created to engage China and strengthen diplomatic ties in a bid avoid conflict between the two major powers.
He spoke after the Pentagon said five Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, approaching within 25 feet of the unarmed surveillance ship.
The State Department said it had protested to Chinese authorities over the incident which occurred on Sunday in the South China Sea, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Hainan Island.
"Allies and enemies of the United States" alike will be closely watching Obama’s response, said Kirk.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1467661,w-obama-kirk-china-navy030909.article
U.S. to protest harassment by Chinese ships
The Obama administration says it will officially protest the way Chinese ships shadowed and even surrounded a U.S. Navy vessel in the South China Sea on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.
The Defense Department says a Chinese intelligence ship and several others maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Impeccable in what appeared to be an effort to harass the American crew.
The protest will be delivered to Beijing’s military attache, the AP reports.
The Defense Department says the Impeccable is an unarmed vessel with a civilian merchant marine crew and was conducting ocean surveys in international waters. It says the Navy sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away and the Chinese crewmembers stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the AP reports.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/03/us-to-protest-h.html
China confrontation is test for Obama: Kirk
March 9, 2009
AFP
Washington - US President Barack Obama faces a critical "early test" from China over a tense naval standoff in the South China Sea, and the whole world is watching his response, a US lawmaker cautioned Monday.
"This story will reverberate around the world and will be carefully watched in North Korea, Iran and Syria," said Republican Representative Mark Kirk, a US Navy Reservist who was at the Pentagon when the incident occurred Sunday. "It’s surprising in that the Chinese challenged a United States ship just two and a half weeks before the Obama/Hu Jintao summit" in London in April, Kirk told AFP by telephone.
"It’s an early test" of the new US president, but "it’s right on schedule," Kirk said, noting that China similarly challenged then-president George W. Bush two months after he took office in January 2001.
The Obama administration needs to respond forcefully, perhaps by sending the unarmed surveillance ship "right back into the same area" — this time with a destroyer escort, to make clear Washington cannot be bullied in international waters, said Kirk.
And the US House of Representatives’ US-China Working Group will formally condemn the confrontation in a "strongly worded letter" to Chinese President Hu Jintao, said Kirk, who co-founded and co-chairs the group.
The group’s condemnation could get Beijing’s attention because it was created to engage China and strengthen diplomatic ties in a bid avoid conflict between the two major powers.
He spoke after the Pentagon said five Chinese vessels maneuvered dangerously close to a US Navy ship in the South China Sea on Sunday, approaching within 25 feet of the unarmed surveillance ship.
The State Department said it had protested to Chinese authorities over the incident which occurred on Sunday in the South China Sea, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Hainan Island.
"Allies and enemies of the United States" alike will be closely watching Obama’s response, said Kirk.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1467661,w-obama-kirk-china-navy030909.article
U.S. to protest harassment by Chinese ships
The Obama administration says it will officially protest the way Chinese ships shadowed and even surrounded a U.S. Navy vessel in the South China Sea on Sunday, the Associated Press reports.
The Defense Department says a Chinese intelligence ship and several others maneuvered dangerously close to the USNS Impeccable in what appeared to be an effort to harass the American crew.
The protest will be delivered to Beijing’s military attache, the AP reports.
The Defense Department says the Impeccable is an unarmed vessel with a civilian merchant marine crew and was conducting ocean surveys in international waters. It says the Navy sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away and the Chinese crewmembers stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the AP reports.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/03/us-to-protest-h.html