US destroyers to escort ships in South China Sea

This photograph released by the US Navy on March 9, 2009 shows two Chinese trawlers stopped directly in front of the military Sealift Command ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable. The United States has decided to provide heavily armed destroyers to escort US surveillance ships operating in the South China Sea after a tense naval standoff this week, a US official said on Thursday. (Agencies)

WASHINGTON– The United States has decided to provide heavily armed destroyers to escort US surveillance ships operating in the South China Sea after a tense naval standoff this week, a US official said on Thursday.

"Right now they are going to escort these types of ships for the foreseeable future," the defense official said on condition of anonymity.

The US government has said Chinese boats moved directly in front of the US Navy surveillance vessel Impeccable on Sunday, forcing the ship to take emergency action to avoid a collision.

A day after the incident, the USS Chung-Hoon destroyer accompanied the Impeccable, an unarmed ship designed to track submarines, in the same area, the official said.

Since Sunday's standoff, there have been no such incidents, he said.

"It's been quiet," the official said. "There's a great deal of emphasis right now to keep this at the diplomatic level. So that's been our focus."

The escorts by warships applied to operations in the South China Sea, he said.

The US government has protested to Chinese authorities over the incident, which occurred in the South China Sea, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Hainan Island.

(Agencies)