According to the Department of Defense, five vessels including a Chinese naval ship, trawlers and an “intelligence ship” approached within 50 feet of the boat, waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. ship to leave the area.  When one of the ships came within as close as 25 feet, the Impeccable used a water cannon to spray the boat in defense.  In response, the Chinese sailors stripped down to their underwear.  The Pentagon has stated that the Impeccable was unarmed (except for that clothes-ruining water cannon) and was manned entirely by civilian mariners conducting ocean surveys.

A U.S. Navy spokesman, Captain Jeffrey Breslau, called the Chinese actions “dangerous.”  He also admitted that the Impeccable had been towing an underwater listening and mapping device used for underwater surveillance, and said one of the Chinese ships tried to snare the device with a long grappling hook.  A Chinese nuclear sub had recently been spotted in satellite photographs at a covert naval base on nearby Hainan, and the implication from both Washington and Beijing is that the U.S. is monitoring Chinese nuclear submarines.

While the incident occurred within what is generally considered “international waters”, China claims an “economic exclusion zone,” extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.  Within this area, China asserts exclusive rights to oil and gas exploration, drilling and fishing.  So the U.S. says it was legal, China says it was illegal.

Showing rapid maturation, the Chinese navy recently deployed two destroyers and a supply ship to the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden, and is working on constructing its first aircraft carrier.  The Washington Post is reporting today that the USS Chung-Hoon, armed with torpedoes and missiles, has been assigned to protect the USNS Impeccable for the immediate future.

Amidst of flurry of  recent and upcoming U.S. attempts to improve relations with China, this incident certainly increases the level of tension but these kinds of naval confrontations are no novelty in American history.  Hans Kristensen, with the Federation of American Scientists, is suggesting that the U.S. and China use the Cold War-era Incidents at Sea Agreement as a template for U.S.-China maritime interactions.

The United States and China are so codependent financially at this point that even a cold war is highly unlikely, but this is a story we will keep our eyes on in the weeks to come.

The International Herald Tribune has more.

1. You don’t really get to vote.
2. The little guy in the janitor jumpsuit and Elvis glasses “runs for re-election” to the “parliamentary seat” of the “constituency” he “represents,” and goes about threatening to nuke the neighbors.
3. 100% of the vote is for Kim Jong-il!
4. In reality, the whole election is only about determining which of the Glorious Leader’s weird kids (that no one knows) will be appointed to take over his father’s dictatorship… er, parliamentary seat.
5. It’s okay though, because there’s no free press to tell you about it.

Details here.