China rejects Trump’s claim that it stole US drone
Beijing has dismissed US President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that the Chinese navy stole an underwater American drone in the South China Sea last week.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing on Monday that the unmanned craft was captured in a “responsible and professional manner" to ensure the safe navigation of passing ships in the South China Sea.
“We don’t like the word ‘steal’ -- the word is absolutely inaccurate,” she stated.
“This is just like you found a thing on the street, and you have to take a look and investigate it to see if the thing belongs to one who wants it back,” Hua continued.
On Thursday, the Chinese navy launched a small boat and removed an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) from waters near a US oceanographic research vessel.
In response, Trump accused China of stealing the drone from international waters, calling it an “unprecedented act.”
“China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act,” Trump tweeted Saturday.
Later in the day when China said it would return the drone “to the US side in an appropriate manner,” Trump suggested that Beijing should keep it.
"We should tell China that we don't want the drone they stole back - let them keep it!" Trump tweeted.
On Monday, Hua suggested that China would not respond strongly to Trump’s tweets until he takes office on January 20.
“Our focus is the US administration’s words, behavior and policies,” Hua said. “Regarding the postings on Twitter made by US President-elect Mr. Trump, I’ve noticed that there are lots of comments from international community already, and me, as a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, I don’t have extra comments to make.”
The Chinese Defense Ministry accused the United States of “hyping up” the incident over the weekend and condemned US surveillance activities in the South China Sea.
“China firmly opposes such acts and demands the US cease such activities. China will stay alert over relevant US activities and will take necessary measures to counter them,” the ministry said in a statement.
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