US says China 'harassed' navy ship

The US has demanded China respect international law after five Chinese vessels allegedly veered dangerously close to a US navy ship in international waters in the South China Sea. The Pentagon said one of the Chinese vessels on Sunday approached within 25 feet of the USNS Impeccable, an unarmed surveillance navy ship. A statement from the US defence department said the ships "shadowed and aggressively manoeuvred in dangerously close proximity" to the navy ship 120km south of Hainan Island.  Two ships came waved Chinese flags and told the Americans to leave the area, the statement said on Monday. Robert Wood, a US state department spokesman, said the US embassy in Beijing had lodged a protest with the Chinese government. "We felt our vessel was inappropriately harassed," he said. The tense naval standoff comes just two and a half weeks ahead of a summit between Barak Obama, the US president, and Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, in London.