- Dec 16, 2016 17H:30 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
- China
US NAVY
The US has issued a formal request to China to deliver an unmanned underwater drone that was seized in international waters, US officials say.
The Chinese navy seized the US underwater research vessel in the South China Sea on Thursday, the US alleges.
The incident took place just as the USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was about to retrieve it.
The device, dubbed an "ocean glider", was used to test water salinity and temperature, officials say.
The data was part of an unclassified programme to map underwater channels, Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis told reporters.
"It was taken" by China, Capt Davis said during a press briefing on Friday.
"The UUV [unmanned underwater vehicle] was lawfully conducting a military survey in the waters of the South China Sea," he added.
"It's a sovereign immune vessel, clearly marked in English not to be removed from the water - that it was US property."
The encounter occurred in the South China Sea about 50 miles (80km) northwest of Subic Bay, Philippines, the US says.
GETTY IMAGES
"The Chinese navy ship ASR-510, a Dalang III-class ship, approached within 500 yards of the Bowditch, launched a small boat, and seized the UUV," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The Bowditch made radio contact with the Chinese ship to demand its immediate return but were "ignored".
"This is not the sort of conduct we expect from professional navies," Capt Davis added.
The seizure will likely add to US concerns about the growing military posture taken by China in the South China Sea.
A US think tank reported this week that aerial imagery shows that China has installed weaponry along seven artificial islands they have built at sea, despite US protests.
In November 2015, two US B-52 bomber planes flew over the man-made islands, known as the Spratly Islands.
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