In a tweet posted early Saturday morning, President-elect Donald Trump ripped China for its reported seizure of a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater drone in the South China Sea.
Trump called it an “unprecedented act”—spelled “unpresidented” in the initial post saved on Politwoops, which the President-elect later deleted and reposted with the correct spelling.
China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that the drone was collecting unclassified scientific data when it was taken by a Chinese ship. He said the U.S. has asked for it to be returned and has issued a formal complaint.
China issued a warning to Trump after he spoke on the phone with the president of Taiwan early in December, the first call between leaders of the two countries since 1979 and a violation of the “one China” policy, another instance which prompted Trump to fire back on Twitter.
