China says discussing return of undersea drone with US military
BEIJING: The Chinese and US militaries are having “unimpeded” talks about the return of US underwater drone taken by a Chinese naval vessel in the South China Sea last week, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The drone, known as an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), was taken on Thursday in waters off the coast of the Philippines, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory.
The Pentagon went public with its complaint about the incident and said on Saturday it had secured a deal to get the drone back. China’s Defense Ministry had earlier accused Washington of hyping up the issue.
“What I can tell you is that at present, China and the United States are using unimpeded military channels to appropriately handle this issue,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to take a more aggressive approach in dealing with China over its economic and military policies, jumped on the unusual seizure with a pair of provocative tweets over the weekend, accusing Beijing of stealing the equipment.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Hua said describing the drone as stolen was “completely incorrect.”
“The key is that China’s navy had a responsible and professional attitude to identify and ascertain this object,” she said. “If you discover or pick something up from the street you have to examine it and if somebody asks you for it you have to work out if it’s theirs before you can give it back.”
The drone, which the Pentagon said was operating lawfully was collecting data about the salinity, temperature and clarity of the water about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, off the Philippines.
The Philippines said the occurrence of the incident inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was “very troubling.”
“Not only does it increase the likelihood of miscalculations that could lead to open confrontation very near the Philippine mainland but the commission of activities other than innocent passage which impinge upon the right of the Philippines over the resources in its EEZ are violations of the Philippines rights over its EEZ,” Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement.