US accused of using international law to provoke China after latest Taiwan Strait incident
- One Chinese analyst said the PLA had ‘no choice’ but to act after a close encounter between two warships that the US attacked as ‘unsafe and unprofessional’
- US-based legal specialists accuse Beijing of disregarding international practice and question its own activities in neighbouring waters
But US-based maritime law specialists said China’s actions risked “the possibility of conflict” and were an indication Beijing was disregarding international practice.
US officials accused the PLA of making an “unsafe and unprofessional” manoeuvre, and warned that China was violating the international maritime law on safe passage and raising the risk of a military miscalculation.
China’s foreign ministry called the manoeuvre “lawful” and “justified” in the face of US provocation, accusing Washington of “stirring up trouble” in the Taiwan Strait.
The incident coincided with the release of an analysis from the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative , a Beijing-based defence think tank, which argued that China has the right under international law to intercept US warships sailing through the strait.