-Caveat Lector- [Off a forum at HiCow.com Seems to be exerpted out of MSNBC] ...
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2002 1:25 am The Chinese and U.S. military are engaged in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse just off the coast of China, NBC News has learned. China is accusing a U.S. survey vessel off its coast of "criminal activity" in its waters, while the United States says the ship is operating in international waters, Pentagon officials revealed. _________________ me? one harmless little bunny mashimaro Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2002 1:26 am CHINA HAS PROTESTED the presence of the USNS Bowditch, an unarmed United States hydrographic survey ship, some 60 miles off China�Es coast in the Yellow Sea. While the Bowditch does map the ocean floor, it also listens underwater with its towed sonar system. Pentagon officials said that last week Chinese reconnaissance aircraft began flying over the Bowditch, and a Chinese intelligence ship began trailing the U.S. survey ship. Territorial waters are generally recognized to extend 12 miles from the shoreline. U.S. officials say the ship is clearly in international waters and has a right to be there. China, however, says the ship is in its "exclusive economic zone" -- a maritime term that claims exclusive rights to economic exploitation to an area extending beyond territorial waters. While officials say that none of the actions by the Chinese is considered dangerous, they say that the Y8 and Y12 reconnaissance aircraft are flying 100 to 500 feet above the Bowditch and that the Chinese have warned the Bowditch that it is "engaging in criminal activity" in bridge-to-bridge communications, to which the Bowditch has not responded. A Chinese fishing vessel damaged the towed sonar equipment, knocking off a hydrophone. It remains unclear, defense officials say, whether the fishing vessel hit the sonar deliberately. U.S. officials say they are watching this situation, but at this point no one is "too spun up" over it. According to one Pentagon official, "we've got a right to be there, and so do they -- and to check us out." The last time this happened with the Bowditch was in June 2001, according to a defense official. Unlike this time, last year a Chinese frigate "locked and loaded," so the unarmed Bowditch departed the area. This time, officials say that so far there aren't any armed Chinese warships or aircraft involved. On April 1, 2001, a Chinese fighter jet collided with a U.S. Navy EP-3 spy plane, forcing the EP-3 to make an emergency landing on China's Hainan island. In the episode, leading to a low point in recent Sino-U.S. relations, the fighter crashed into the sea, killing the pilot. The 24-member crew of the U.S. plane was detained for 11 days before being released, leading the Bush administration to call a virtual halt to military cooperation with China. U.S. military figures have said that China�Es surveillance of U.S. aircraft has since been less aggressive. _________________ me? one harmless little bunny Anonymous Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2002 2:37 am _ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
