China-U.S. Naval Incident in South China Sea

After Monday's confrontation in the South China Sea (see the BBC's map of the incident here), in which a number of Chinese ships sailed dangerously close to a U.S. Navy ship making submarine charts, both the Department of Defense and the Chinese government have traded accusations of misconduct. China claims that the USNS Impeccable, the ship in question, was operating illegally in China's Exclusive Economic Zone guaranteed by international law. The U.S. has countered that the Impeccable's operations were routine and legal.

Regardless of the truth of either side's statements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minster Yang Jiechi have met in Washington to avoid any escalation. Mrs. Clinton went on record to say that the U.S. and China must work together to prevent such encounters in the future.