On Monday, China decided the USNS Impeccable was inappropriately “surveying” their people and China set about to set in place a blockade — an incarceration at sea — to prevent the United States from their alleged unlawful action. 

According to the Pentagon, five Chinese vessels surrounded the ship and closed to within 50 feet while crew members were “waving Chinese flags and telling Impeccable to leave the area.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said at a news conference Tuesday that the United States had misrepresented the situation and that the U.S. ship had been in a “Chinese exclusive economic zone” without the Chinese government’s permission.

“The U.S. claim is totally inaccurate and confuses right and wrong and is unacceptable to China,” Ma said. China maintains that the Impeccable’s presence violates international law and has demanded that the United States refrain from carrying out similar missions.

I don’t understand why China and the USA are playing these games of chicken on the high China seas — we’re both indebted to each other up to our eyelashes.

If either country fails or falls, the other will come tumbling down ahead of the other.

It’s a madman’s game of meaningless one-upmanship.

4 Comments

  2. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    It makes no sense, Gordon, unless you want an international MMA-style fight just to see who’s the toughest and then when it’s over you shake hands and make up, but that’s such a huge waste of time and money.
    These are bored people with nothing better to do than just make trouble.

  3. ANNE – I live and teach on the upper West Coast of the United States. My interests are Philosophy, English, and Social Communication.
    ANNE says:

    I just hope they don’t blow up the whole world in this testosterone show.

  4. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    It is a strange standoff, Anne, and I do hope this sort of posturing doesn’t lead to bending down to pick up a gun or load a cannon.

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