WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House said on Monday that actions by China in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea reflect a “growing aggressiveness” by Beijing’s military that raises the risk of an error where someone gets hurt.
The U.S. Navy on Sunday released a video of what it called an “unsafe interaction” in the Taiwan Strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a U.S. destroyer.
“It won’t be long before somebody gets hurt,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, referring to what he called “unsafe” and “unprofessional” intercepts by China. “It wouldn’t take much for an error in judgment or a mistake to get made.”
Kirby said the United States would continue to stand up for the freedom of navigation in the air and sea.
“I sure would like to hear Beijing justify what they’re doing,” Kirby said. “Air and maritime intercepts happen all the time. Heck, we do it. The difference is … when we feel like we need to do it, it’s done professionally.”
Kirby said if Beijing wanted to deliver the message that the United States was not welcome in the area or that it wanted U.S. aircraft and vessels to stop flying and sailing in support of international law, that would not succeed. “It’s not going to happen,” he said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; writing by Jasper Ward; editing by Tim Ahmann and Alistair Bell)
