Rep. Mark Kirk on the Chinese naval confrontation

Over the weekend, in a clear violation of international law, five Chinese ships confronted the US Navy surveillance submarine, the Impeccable, 100 miles off the coast of China.

But what does China care about international law? After all, today is the 50th anniversary of the flight from Tibet of the Dalai Lama.

US Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) was on WLS-AM Chicago's Don & Wade Show this morning talking about the first incident. The Highland Park resident is a Navy reservist and was named the Navy Reserve's "Intelligence Officer of the Year" in 1999 for his service in the Kosovo conflict.

Kirk reminded listeners of the ChiComm military confrontation that forced down a US surveillance jet three months into George W. Bush's first term in office.

Interesting.

He also dismissed Chinese claims that the Impeccable was in Chinese waters, stating that "12 nautical miles is your territorial limit and we'll leave it at 12 nautical miles."

Not 100.

UPDATE 5:45pm CDT: Greybeard, who knows a lot more about these things than I do, informs me the plane forced down in 2001 was not a jet.

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Rep. Mark Kirk on congressmen convicted of crimes collecting pensions

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