A strange thing happened in the South China Sea the other month when the USS Spruance – an American guided-missile destroyer – encountered a civilian Chinese supply ship, according to U.S. naval officers.
The Chinese ship sped towards the U.S. vessel and began broadcasting abusive messages over the radio in Chinese and English, demanding that it leave the area, the U.S. officers said.
That was no particular surprise: Such confrontations have become routine in recent years as China has stepped up efforts to enforce maritime claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
What was unusual was that a Chinese naval frigate soon arrived to defuse the standoff, making radio contact with the U.S. ship in English, and acting as an intermediary with the Chinese supply vessel, the U.S. naval officers said.
The episode in February is one of three cited by Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the U.S. chief of naval operations, as evidence that China is trying to improve ties with the U.S. Navy, even as it presses territorial claims in Asia.
China’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Adm. Greenert met his counterpart, Adm. Wu Shengli, in China last week to discuss further ways to improve military ties — including a proposal to allow the crew of China’s first aircraft carrier to tour a U.S. carrier in a mainland Chinese port.
The Spruance encounter is indicative of a new two-pronged approach China is taking in disputed waters. Chinese ships and aircraft still confront counterparts from neighbors with competing maritime claims, including Japan and the Philippines, two U.S. allies. With the U.S. navy, though, China appears to be on something of a charm offensive — one that analysts say is designed both to build a new “major power” relationship with the U.S., and to gradually undermine U.S. alliances in Asia.
Another unusual encounter occurred in the East China Sea in October, when a Chinese navy frigate, the Putian, came within 25,000 yards of a Japan-based U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Curtis Wilbur, according to U.S. officials.
The captains greeted each other over bridge-to-bridge communications and the two men began to talk — first about the weather and each other’s ships, then families, food, music and basketball, the officials said.
The USS Curtis Wilbur
Courtesy of Kristopher G. Horton/U.S. Navy
“These guys talked into the evening about their background, what they had for dinner, how many kids they have,” Adm. Greenert said in an interview at the end of last week’s trip to China.
“It went on and on. So there’s a curiosity building now that we have opened that door to learn about each other and the details of our backgrounds.”
He cited the exchanges as evidence that the Chinese navy was living up to a commitment to communicate with U.S. ships in English when they meet at sea. China has since gone further, signing up to a Code for Unplanned Encounters At Sea, or CUES, in April.
Adm. Greenert said Chinese navy ships appeared to be behaving more professionally in their engagements with U.S. counterparts since the code was signed.
“When there’s an incident where there was unprofessional behavior or potential harassment involved, then it’s reported. I have none of those at sea since April,” he said. “There hasn’t been the instance where the mediation has needed to occur to my knowledge since the Spruance.”
The third example Adm. Greenert cited was an encounter in which U.S. officials say a Chinese navy vessel blocked the path of the USS Cowpens, a U.S. missile cruiser that was operating near China’s new aircraft carrier in the South China Sea in December.
Some U.S. military officers, politicians and defense experts have held that up as evidence that China is seeking not to just to enforce territorial claims, but to hinder U.S. freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
But Adm. Greenert argued that the confrontation was only resolved after the captain of the Liaoning, China’s carrier, contacted the commander of the Cowpens and spoke to him in English. The Liaoning’s captain had visited the U.S. in September with Adm. Wu, U.S. officials said.
“I would tell you that knowing and having that clarity of what will happen when two ships pass — they’re speaking English, we’ll use CUES – I think is a fairly dramatic improvement,” Adm. Greenert said.
“If all we did is say, ‘OK, this is unhelpful, you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that,’ well we’re not going to change our position… what have I left my commanding officers to do?”
Divide and Conquer? Chinese Navy Starts Playing Nice With U.S. - China Real Time Report - WSJ
The Chinese ship sped towards the U.S. vessel and began broadcasting abusive messages over the radio in Chinese and English, demanding that it leave the area, the U.S. officers said.
That was no particular surprise: Such confrontations have become routine in recent years as China has stepped up efforts to enforce maritime claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
What was unusual was that a Chinese naval frigate soon arrived to defuse the standoff, making radio contact with the U.S. ship in English, and acting as an intermediary with the Chinese supply vessel, the U.S. naval officers said.
The episode in February is one of three cited by Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, the U.S. chief of naval operations, as evidence that China is trying to improve ties with the U.S. Navy, even as it presses territorial claims in Asia.
China’s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Adm. Greenert met his counterpart, Adm. Wu Shengli, in China last week to discuss further ways to improve military ties — including a proposal to allow the crew of China’s first aircraft carrier to tour a U.S. carrier in a mainland Chinese port.
The Spruance encounter is indicative of a new two-pronged approach China is taking in disputed waters. Chinese ships and aircraft still confront counterparts from neighbors with competing maritime claims, including Japan and the Philippines, two U.S. allies. With the U.S. navy, though, China appears to be on something of a charm offensive — one that analysts say is designed both to build a new “major power” relationship with the U.S., and to gradually undermine U.S. alliances in Asia.
Another unusual encounter occurred in the East China Sea in October, when a Chinese navy frigate, the Putian, came within 25,000 yards of a Japan-based U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Curtis Wilbur, according to U.S. officials.
The captains greeted each other over bridge-to-bridge communications and the two men began to talk — first about the weather and each other’s ships, then families, food, music and basketball, the officials said.
The USS Curtis Wilbur
Courtesy of Kristopher G. Horton/U.S. Navy
“These guys talked into the evening about their background, what they had for dinner, how many kids they have,” Adm. Greenert said in an interview at the end of last week’s trip to China.
“It went on and on. So there’s a curiosity building now that we have opened that door to learn about each other and the details of our backgrounds.”
He cited the exchanges as evidence that the Chinese navy was living up to a commitment to communicate with U.S. ships in English when they meet at sea. China has since gone further, signing up to a Code for Unplanned Encounters At Sea, or CUES, in April.
Adm. Greenert said Chinese navy ships appeared to be behaving more professionally in their engagements with U.S. counterparts since the code was signed.
“When there’s an incident where there was unprofessional behavior or potential harassment involved, then it’s reported. I have none of those at sea since April,” he said. “There hasn’t been the instance where the mediation has needed to occur to my knowledge since the Spruance.”
The third example Adm. Greenert cited was an encounter in which U.S. officials say a Chinese navy vessel blocked the path of the USS Cowpens, a U.S. missile cruiser that was operating near China’s new aircraft carrier in the South China Sea in December.
Some U.S. military officers, politicians and defense experts have held that up as evidence that China is seeking not to just to enforce territorial claims, but to hinder U.S. freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
But Adm. Greenert argued that the confrontation was only resolved after the captain of the Liaoning, China’s carrier, contacted the commander of the Cowpens and spoke to him in English. The Liaoning’s captain had visited the U.S. in September with Adm. Wu, U.S. officials said.
“I would tell you that knowing and having that clarity of what will happen when two ships pass — they’re speaking English, we’ll use CUES – I think is a fairly dramatic improvement,” Adm. Greenert said.
“If all we did is say, ‘OK, this is unhelpful, you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that,’ well we’re not going to change our position… what have I left my commanding officers to do?”
Divide and Conquer? Chinese Navy Starts Playing Nice With U.S. - China Real Time Report - WSJ
