The USS Connecticut had been working within the contested waterway when it struck the thing on October 2, nevertheless it was unclear on the time what it had hit.
“The investigation decided USS CONNECTICUT grounded on an uncharted seamount whereas working in worldwide waters within the Indo-Pacific area,” a seventh Fleet spokesperson instructed CNN in an announcement. US seventh Fleet operates within the Western Pacific and Indian oceans.
The command investigation for the USS Connecticut has been submitted to Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, the commander of seventh Fleet, for his overview, based on the assertion. Thomas will determine whether or not “follow-on actions, together with accountability, are applicable.”
The collision got here at a very delicate time in US-China relations, because the Chinese language army was sending waves of plane into Taiwan’s Air Protection Identification Zone. On the day of the crash, China flew 39 plane into the Air Protection Identification Zone. Two days later, China flew a report 56 plane into the zone in a 24-hour interval.
Although the variety of incursions ebbed for a brief interval, they’ve since begun once more. On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Protection stated eight Individuals’s Liberation Military plane entered the Air Protection Identification Zone, with one other six flying in on Monday.
The assertion drew an offended rebuke from Beijing, which views unification with the independently dominated island as one in every of its main aims and adamantly opposes Taipei’s participation in worldwide boards.
“Ought to the US aspect select to proceed enjoying the ill-advised ‘Taiwan card,’ it might inevitably pose seismic dangers to China-US relations, critically undermine peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait, and gravely hurt the pursuits of the US itself,” International Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stated a day after Blinken’s assertion.
Zhao additionally stated that Taipei’s present coverage is “the best life like menace to peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait.”
On Thursday, Taiwan’s protection minister overtly acknowledged that US army personnel are coaching Taiwanese troops.
“The US army is just helping in coaching (our troops), however they don’t seem to be based mostly right here,” Chiu Kuo-cheng stated, based on Taiwan’s official Central Information Company.
