Exclusive | Exclusive details and footage emerge of near collision between warships in South China Sea
- The Chinese Luyang destroyer issued the stern verbal signal to the USS Decatur before sailing within 45 yards of the vessel on September 30
- Footage of the tense encounter never before aired publicly shows just how close the Chinese vessel came to the US warship
A Chinese warship warned a US Navy vessel in the South China Sea it would “suffer consequences” if it did not change course, internal military documents show, as new details and never-before-seen footage emerge of last month’s near collision in the disputed waters.
The Chinese Luyang destroyer issued the stern verbal message to the USS Decatur before sailing within 45 yards of the vessel in the September 30 incident that Washington labelled “unsafe and unprofessional”, according to a timeline obtained from Britain’s Ministry of Defence.
“You are on [sic] dangerous course,” the Chinese ship warned, according to the document obtained by the South China Morning Post via a freedom of information request. “If you don’t change course your [sic] will suffer consequences.”
“We are conducting innocent passage,” the US vessel responded, according to the transcript.
US Pacific Fleet officials said at the time the “unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre” by the Chinese destroyer forced its vessel, out on a “freedom of navigation” patrol near the Spratly Islands, to change course to avoid a collision.
China countered then that the US vessel had entered Chinese waters and its actions were provocative. The Luyang destroyer “took quick action and made checks against the US vessel in accordance with the law, and warned it to leave the waters,” China’s defence ministry said at the time.
Bill Hayton, an associate fellow with the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House in London, said the Chinese actions may have been a deliberate decision to “raise the level of antagonism”.