China says the US is a troublemaker in the S. China Sea. Is our Navy ready to play bumper cars with 10K Ton Chinese Coast Guard Cutters?

Note:  Many naval blogs have looked at the 10K Ton Chinese Coast Guard Cutter (above) and speculated that its designed to bully Navy ships up to and including Burke Class Destroyers.  Consider the possibility that these ships probably have reinforced hulls that would make icebreakers blush AND how skittish Navy Skippers have to be about collisions at sea.  Now check out this article from Reuters....

Huangyan island, which is better known as the Scarborough Shoal and is subject to a rival claim by the Philippines, a historic ally of the United States.

It was the latest U.S. naval operation challenging extensive Chinese claims in the South China Sea and came even as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.

The ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily said in a commentary that, with the situation generally improving in the South China Sea, it was clear that the United States was the one militarizing the region.

“Against this backdrop of peace and cooperation, a U.S. ship wantonly provoking trouble is singleminded to the point of recklessness,” the paper said.

“If the relevant party once more makes trouble out of nothing and causes tensions, then it will only cause China to reach this conclusion: in order to earnestly protect peace in the South China Sea, China must strengthen and speed up the building of its abilities there,” it said.

The commentary was published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, meaning “Voice of China”, which is often used to give the paper’s view on foreign policy issues.

Story here. 

I have plenty of China apologists that will come on this blog and make every excuse for them.  You debate them.  I'm done with that.

What I want to know is if the US Navy has the stomach for this fight.  Do our skippers have clear instructions for dealing with Chinese ships that try and bully them on the high seas?

Is the Navy so gun shy now that we'll see our most powerful surface ships turn tail when a Chinese fishing boat being operated by the Chinese Navy decide to turn water hoses on them?  Will they be punished if a Chinese boat attempts to ram, play bumper car etc...?

I hope we have the stomach for this.

The jostling before the fight is coming I believe...and the US Navy will be on the front lines of that comotion.