A United States underwater drone was seized by China recently within international waters on Thursday, and has resulted in China being accused of stealing. US President-elect Donald Trump expressed the accusation through a twitter post last December 17, and he was criticized by misspelling a word on his post.
According to BBC News, The US President-elect Donald Trump accused the Chinese of stealing. This recent incident is one of the most serious military conflicts between the two countries for decades. The Pentagon revealed that the drone was an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), and it was being used to carry out scientific research at the time it was seized. The Pentagon has demanded its expeditious return, and they have also warned China not to repeat such a move in the future.
The unmanned drone was seized by a Chinese Navy Ship 92km (57 miles) north-west of Subic Bay near the Philippines in the South China Sea on Thursday. The vessel was about to be received by the oceanographic research ship, USNS Bowditch. However, the China's defense ministry declared that the craft was being operated by civilian contractors, and was only retrieved and examined to maintain the safety of passing vessels.
Spokesman Peter Cook stated later on Saturday that there was an agreement being reached. Through a direct engagement with Chinese authorities, and they have reached a viable understanding upon the return of the UUV. The China's defense ministry also declared that the vessel would be returned in an appropriate manner. However, they did not reveal about when this might happen.
We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2016
China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016
US President-elect Donald Trump has already provoked the Chinese through a conversation over the phone with the leader of Taiwan earlier this month. The tweet regarding the word unprecedented was actually misspelled earlier. US President-elect Donald Trump drew criticism online for the misspelled word unpresidented. This was the latest error he has made on his twitter posts. Meanwhile, he already corrected it.
Still the brazen act of seizing was considered a violation of the international law according to Senator Ben Cardin. He is considered as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. On the other hand, the Senior Republican Senator John McCain also stated that the United States should not condone such outrageous conduct.
This recent incident might affect the military conflicts between the two powerhouse countries even more. Furthermore, the United States will probably be more vigilant towards such an outrageous conduct. Still, the twitter post of US President-elect Donald Trump is somehow unpleasant and inappropriate for a lot of people. Subscribe for more updates!
