Was there a serious US-Chinese naval confrontation in the Taiwan Strait in November, or wasn't there? Nobody, it seems, knows for sure.
But reports of such a confrontation sped across the Pacific Ocean to the US with the speed of modern Internet communications this week and the story seemed to get bigger at each step along the way.
Finally, it was officially denied, but the denial was itself considered suspect by some observers and the issue may not be dead.
It started when the Chinese-language China Times reported on Tuesday that the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group was intercepted in the Strait by the Chinese guided missile warship, the Shenzhen, and a Song-class submarine, after being denied entry to Hong Kong for a Thanksgiving visit.
The US ships were heading to their home port of Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan through the Strait when the incident occurred, the China Times reported. Accosted by the Chinese vessels, the Kitty Hawk stopped and "assumed a combat position," and the confrontation lasted more than two days before each side stepped down, the paper said.
Indeed, the Shenzhen was heading in the same direction as the Kitty Hawk at the time and landed at Yokosuka on a courtesy call at about the same time as did the Kitty Hawk, to become the first Chinese warship to visit Japan since World War II.
Japan's Kyodo news bureau in Taipei, on Thursday, did a story on the China Times report, which in turn was picked up by the Navy Times. Japanese newspapers ran similar stories.
From there, the story spread like wildfire.
Within hours, US congressional staffers and others in Washington were asking Taiwanese reporters about the incident, which became the talk of the Taiwan media in the US capital.
Then, in a "news" story that appeared to assume the worst, Fox TV network news picked up the story, with its newsreader commenting that the reported standoff was "serious."
By the time Fox aired the report, the commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Timothy Keating, had already denied the story as totally false, as did the Pentagon's East Asia spokesman, Stewart Upton, in Washington.
Nevertheless, a grave-faced Fox newsreader told viewers: "We are now hearing about a serious showdown between a US battle group and the Chinese Navy ... some kind of incident between US warships and a Chinese attack submarine and destroyer."
"This is serious," she said.
Punctuating the report was an interview with a Fox military analyst, Lieutenant General Tim McInerney, who speculated that there was "a little game going on here," between the US and Chinese navies, going on to explain why and how the confrontation could have occurred.
As the general delivered his scenario commentary, the screen was filled with Kitty Hawk file film of warships firing missiles and destroying enemy vessels at sea and ships in various war formations, under a foreboding sky.
No place in the report did the general or the newsreader note that the original story might be wrong. Nor did the broadcast indicate that the station had tried to confirm or deny the report.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS