When a Chinese Dalang–III naval salvage vessel seized a U.S. Navy Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) from the oceanographic survey ship USNS Bowditch in the South China Sea last week, it was the most serious incident of China interfering with U.S. surveillance and survey ships since Chinese Maritime Militia harassed the USNS Impeccable in 2009. China returned the UUV to the U.S. destroyer USS Mustin on Monday, but the incident prompted broad speculation about Chinese intent, including whether China intended to signal even more expansive claims over the South China Sea. However, China’s subsequent handling of the incident suggests it was not trying to provoke a crisis or alter the status quo.

Former U.S. Navy Law of the Sea experts James Kraska and Pete Pedrozo have provided a thorough explanation of why China’s seizure violated the UN Law of the Sea’s sovereign immunity articles and how its protections also extended to the Bowditch’s UUV. Law professor Julian Ku explained why China had no legal basis for the seizure both because of those sovereign immunity protections and because China has no compelling jurisdiction argument over the area where the incident took place.

But Chinese officials sidestepped both the sovereign immunity and jurisdictional issues the incident posed. The Chinese Ministry of Defense claimed that its ship happened upon the UUV, that it was unidentifiable, and that they picked it up out of concern that it might pose a safety hazard to ships transiting in the area. The official statement continued that it was only after examination that China was able to determine that the UUV belonged to the U.S. Navy and decided to return it.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/12/china-creates-version-of-us-drone-seizure-to-maintain-the-status-quo/