‘Unsafe and Unprofessional’: Chinese warship sails within 45 yards of Navy destroyer

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A Chinese warship sailed within 45 yards of a Navy destroyer in the South China Sea on Sunday in what American authorities described as an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver.”

U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Charlie Brown said the Luyang destroyer “conducted a series of increasingly aggressive” moves before it approached the USS Decatur’s bow. The American ship changed course to prevent a collision, Brown said.

The incident occurred amid growing tensions over tariffs and sanctions — and as the Decatur conducted a “freedom of navigation operation” in the disputed, strategic waterway, a Defense Department official told NBC News.