China sends surveillance ship to monitor US naval drill off Guam
Over the past week, the Chinese Dongdiao-class auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) ship has been in waters near the site of Exercise Valiant Shield, a biannual training exercise that began on Monday and ends on Tuesday.
China sent a surveillance ship to waters off Guam to monitor a US naval drill, the exercise's operational chief said yesterday.
He said interaction between the Chinese and US ships had been professional. "We respect the right of a nation like that, [or] any nation, to safely and responsibly operate their ships," he said.
China has sent its AGI ships to conduct surveillance of foreign naval vessels near its waters. But sending a ship to waters as far off as Guam is a rare move.
In July, China, unbidden, sent an AGI ship to monitor the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise in waters off Hawaii, even though the Chinese navy was also participating in the biannual exercise. It was the first time China had taken part in the world's largest naval exercise and was seen as a sign of improving military ties.
But the two powers' differing interpretations of freedom of navigation at sea and in the air have strained relations in the past. Last week, Admiral Wu Shengli , commander of the PLA Navy and a member of the Central Military Commission, told US naval officials at a forum in Rhode Island that China would continue intercepting spy planes near Chinese territory though it would not want a repeat of a 2001 mid-air crash.
Montgomery said the exercises included training pilots for possible intereceptions from other countries but added that "we don't have a specific country in mind".
Valiant Shield is the largest US-only military exercise and involves more than 18,000 personnel.
