The Wall Street Journal said a Chinese flotilla of five ships near Alaska "came within 12 nautical miles of the coast, making a rare foray into U.S. territorial waters, according to the Pentagon."
"Pentagon officials said late Thursday the five Chinese navy ships had passed through U.S. territorial waters as they transited the Aleutian Islands, but said they had complied with international law and didn't do anything threatening," the Journal said.
The Washington Post said, the naval vessels "transited U.S. territorial waters near Alaska," calling it an "unusual maneuver that underscores the potential for increased U.S.-Chinese friction at sea."
No one has suggested that those stories or the others from major news organizations contained errors of fact, but most of the coverage missed the boat by not providing a bit more information on the size of Alaska and the coastline of its many islands.
The U.S. Naval Institute News website said the incursion took place near the western end of the Aleutian Chain, in the vicinity of Attu, 1,500 miles southwest of Anchorage and about 500 miles east of Russia.
The Naval Institute report said the ships traveled into the Bering Sea to the west of Attu and returned to the east of Attu. On Thursday, the ships were reported to be about 345 miles south of Attu.
By not making it clear that the Aleutians extend more than 1,000 miles from Unimak Island to Attu Island, it was like saying that something happened in the Pacific Ocean between Juneau and Seattle. One of the reporters who wrote about this topic told me the unnamed U.S. military sources who spoke about this were "foggy" on what they chose to reveal concerning the location of the incident.
But had this happened off the coast of some other state with a greater population, the military would have had to be more forthcoming.
The news reports said the Chinese ships followed the provisions of the Law of the Sea treaty, which allows "innocent passage" within 12 miles of another nation's territory without having to provide advance warning. The five ships "transited expeditiously and continuously through the Aleutian Island chain in a manner consistent with international law," the U.S. Northern Command told the Naval Institute news site.
At a Pentagon briefing Thursday a reporter asked if the Chinese ships were deemed a threat, given the visit of President Barack Obama to Alaska.
The Pentagon spokesman replied, "They were operating in international waters as U.S. ships operate in international waters. And so we didn't take it as a particular threat. And I'll just refer you to the Chinese government as to exactly what their ships were doing there. But they were operating in international waters, as our ships do as well."