Trump Slams Chinese Seizure Of US Drone, Calls It "Unprecedented Act"
By Tyler Durden
Update: moments after the original post, Trump has corrected his spelling error in a follow up tweet which, correctly, accuses China of engaging in an “unprecedented act” by seizing the US naval drone.
China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016
Irrelevant spelling mistakes aside, China’s drone seizure is likely a signal to President-elect Donald Trump that it won’t take his phone call with Taiwan lightly, an expert said on Friday. “Knowing Chinese military officials for many years and how orders are communicated from the highest power centers in Beijing down to commanders on the ground or water, this was very likely a highly planned and escalatory move to show China will not take matters lightly when it comes to President-elect Trump’s phone call and comments on Taiwan, or Chinese actions overall,” said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest.
The ball is now in Trump’s court if he wishes to further escalate.
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Following yesterday’s biggest, market-moving geopolitical event, in which a US oceanographic vessel had its underwater drone “stolen” by a Chinese warship “literally right in front of the eyes of the American crew”, we predicted that everyone would be eagerly waiting for Trump to chime in on the topic, and further escalating the diplomatic spat between the two nations which now involves China confiscating US marine drones, the first of its kind seizure in recent history:
everyone F5ing the @realDonaldTrump page
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 16, 2016
21 hours later, it finally happened, when the President-elect used his favorite social media outlet to Tweet that “China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China”, an act which he called “unpresidented.“
… and as a result, the social media response has been more focused on Trump’s spelling, than his outrage:
I know it’s trivial & probably helps Trump when people hype things like this, but it’s genuinely shocking he thinks it’s spelled this way pic.twitter.com/Mkw0J4Fqfd
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 17, 2016
Still, as tensions runs high between the two superpowers, and as some wonder if Trump will do anything else in retaliation besides being confined by Twitter, China’s act confined merely there was some signs of de-escalation, after China said on Saturday that Beijing and the US are using military channels to “appropriately handle” the seizure by the Chinese navy of a U.S. underwater drone in the South China Sea, and a Chinese state-run newspaper said it expected a smooth resolution. The drone was taken on Thursday, 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), U.S. officials said.
“It is understood that China and the …read more
Source: Trump Slams Chinese Seizure Of US Drone, Calls It "Unprecedented Act"
