Stringer/Reuters
China’s navy has seized an “unmanned, underwater U.S. Navy vehicle” in the international waters of the South China Sea, Reuters reports. The vehicle in question is a drone deployed by the USNS Bowditch, a naval oceanographic survey vessel. The seizure took place Thursday near the Philippines’ Subic Bay; the United States has demanded the drone’s return.
The Washington Post says the vehicle was “about 500 yards” from the Bowditch when it was taken and that the Bowditch has a mostly civilian crew.
The territorial status of the South China Sea is a highly controversial issue, with China claiming the rights to offshore areas that are also claimed by, among others, the Philippines (which is a longtime U.S. military ally). One of the other entities involved in South China Sea disputes with China is Taiwan—the unofficially autonomous splinter nation whose president was recently involved in an unprecedented formal interaction with a certain United States president-elect. Said president-elect has also vowed that his administration would respond with live fire to symbolic provocations by foreign powers.
It may be worth checking your canned food supplies tonight, just to be safe.
