One of the biggest international news stories of the last few days was the incident of the U.S.N.S. Impeccable being harassed by Chinese ships in international waters. It is a known fact that Chinese officials do not comprehend the language of international boundaries but, from what I have discovered, neither apparently does most of the mainstream media. The sentence I just gave contained the extent of the location details given in most MSM articles on this story. In order to find out exactly where this confrontation happened, I had to go to a blog that is so far left the writer and many of the commenters actually consider the New York Times to be a Republican mouthpiece.
I'll give you a moment to settle the laughter from that last sentence.
Ready to continue now?
So, where did the confrontation take place? (Amusingly enough, I return to that blog for my notes and it seems that all reference to the exact location has been removed. Glad I have a good memory, but this does mean that I won't be giving exact numbers.) The Impeccable was operating about 75 miles off the southern coast of China. My knowledge of international law is sketchy at best but, last time I checked, international waters begin about seven miles off coast. Even if my memory on this is not precise, you do the math. There is absolutely no way to claim that the Impeccable was not in international waters and there is absolutely no way to claim that the actions of the Chinese vessels (approaching to within 25 feet and even stopping directly in the path of the moving Impeccable, forcing an emergency stop) were not a violation of Maritime law. Take a guess at how many mainstream media outlets are actually calling China out on this blatant violation. If you guessed any number higher than zero, you need to be paying more attention to current affairs.
China has been trying for years to claim territory that does not belong to them and this behavior is just another example of that attitude. By not denouncing these actions loudly and without reservation, the international community is letting them get away with it.
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