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archfeld writes:

A Chinese ship has reportedly seized an underwater survey drone in full sight of a US Navy contracted research vessel.

The drone was taken on Dec. 15, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory, about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay off the Philippines just as the USNS Bowditch was about to retrieve the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), officials said.

"The UUV was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea," one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It's a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water - that it was U.S. property," the official said.

From the CNN report:

The US got no answer from the Chinese on the radio when it said the drone was American property, the official said.

[...] US oceanographic research vessels are often followed in the water under the assumption they are spying. In this case, however, the drone was simply measuring ocean conditions, the official said.

Some background on why the South China Sea is such a tense place.

Original Submission