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'Unprecedented Act': Donald Trump Accuses China of Stealing US Research Drone

© REUTERS / Carlo Allegri/File PhotoU.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears at a campaign roundtable event in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., October 28, 2016
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears at a campaign roundtable event in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., October 28, 2016 - Sputnik International
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US President-elect Donald Trump accused China of stealing a US underwater drone in the South China Sea.

USNS Bowditch - Sputnik International
Asia
Chinese Defense Ministry Slams 'Fuss' Over Seizure of US Underwater Drone
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Friday, reports emerged of a Chinese warship seizing a US underwater drone in the international waters of the disputed South China Sea region.

On Thursday, USNS Bowditch, a US oceanographic vessel, stopped some 100 miles off the port at Subic Bay in the Philippines to pick up two drones when a Chinese vessel captured one of them, according to US defense officials. The US Department of Defense urged to immediately return the drone, calling the capture illegal.

"China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act," Trump said on Twitter.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said that the Chinese warship located unknown equipment in the international waters of the South China Sea and, in order to avoid endangering the passing ships and their crews, the Chinese side used friend-or-foe identification, which showed that it was a US underwater drone.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., leaves a closed-door GOP policy luncheon at the Capitol in Washington - Sputnik International
Senator McCain Demands Response to Capture of Drone Boat in South China Sea
Meanwhile, the United States alleged that China ignored requests for the drone to be returned.

The drone is not a classified piece of equipment and is used to gather data on water temperature, salinity and the speed of sound, according Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook.

Washington and Beijing interests clash in the South China Sea, with China and US allies, including the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam, having competing territorial claims. The US Navy continues patrols in the area despite Chinese protests.

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