China says one of its warships “encountered” a US vessel, confirming US reports of a near-collision in the South China Sea earlier this month.
The US said its guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens was forced to take evasive action as the two ships neared each other on 5 December.
It has been described as the most serious Sino-US confrontation in the South China Sea since 2009.
However, China said the incident was handled with “strict protocol”.
The US has said its ship was operating in international waters.
But China claims parts of the South China Sea, and a state-run newspaper quoted an expert as saying that the US boat had been “harassing” China’s aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as it carried out drills.
The incident came to light last week after US officials spoke about it.
“While lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA [People's Liberation Army] Navy vessel had an encounter that required manoeuvring to avoid a collision,” a US Pacific fleet statement said.
But tensions are still bubbling. China will continue to assert its claims to large swathes of the South and East China Seas – areas that other regional neighbours claim as their own. The US says it is trying to stay away from such disagreements, but it asserts its right to travel through what it considers to be international waters.
Until these territorial spats are settled, or a status quo is accepted, smooth sailing in the waters near China might be difficult indeed.
Eventually, the two crews were able to communicate and “both vessels manoeuvred to ensure safe passage”, an unnamed defence official was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The US had raised the incident at a “high level” with China, an unnamed State Department official quoted by US military newspaper Stars and Stripes said.
In a statement on Wednesday, China’s defence ministry said the two ships met during a “routine patrol” by one of China’s naval vessels.
“The Chinese naval vessel strictly followed protocol and handled the incident,” it said.
“The two defence departments used normal working channels to stay informed about the situation and communicated effectively.”
The statement added, without elaborating, that some media reports about the event were untrue.
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