China, US Release Dueling Videos With Accusations of Provocation
- Beijing says USS Ralph Johnson ‘conducted close-in harassment’
- US accuses Chinese fighter of ‘unsafe intercept’ of a B-52
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson.
Source: Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jamaal Liddell/U.S. Navy
The US and China each released video footage that accused the other of provocative or unprofessional actions by military craft in and around the South China Sea, escalating the rhetoric by both countries in the disputed body of water.
The Chinese clip said that on Aug. 19, the USS Ralph Johnson “conducted close-in harassment” against a Chinese navy task group doing routine training in the South China Sea. It accused the American guided-missile destroyer of “several provocative actions such as making a sharp turn and sudden acceleration or deceleration,” and coming within 670 meters, or roughly 730 yards.