PHOTOS
Chinese ships stopped in the path of the USNS Impeccable on Sunday.(U.s. Navy Via Reuters)
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff WriterFriday, March 13, 2009
The U.S. Navy has dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the South China Sea after Chinese ships allegedly harassed an American ship operating there last weekend, a Pentagon official said yesterday.
The USS Chung-Hoon, armed with torpedoes and missiles, is stationed in protection of the USNS Impeccable, an ocean surveillance ship. On Sunday, five Chinese vessels surrounded the Impeccable, which is unarmed. The Chinese ships approached to within 25 feet and blocked the Impeccable's path with pieces of wood, the official said.
