what would US reaction be if a similiar vessel of the PLAN is to snooping around the international waters of san diego, norfolk etc
I believe the US would abide by international law if the vessel was careful to maintain itself outside of territorial waters.
As a result of the cold war and of our experiences with Russian spy trawlers off our coasts and shadowing our naval formations, we know that this is the case because the US, in those days did not attempt to provoke or harass those vessels as long as the maintained their distance according to international and maritime law.
Now, admitteldy, during the cold war, particularly dealing with submarines, there were times when both sides did not maintain their distance and there were some pretty tense incidents...but that almost invariably resulted from one side or the other pushing beyond international and maritime law.
In that regard, I would suggest the book,
, for some excellent reading.
In this case, the US vessel was clearly adhering to international law and maintaining its distance well outside of territorial waters. It is unarmed, and slow, and clearly not a vessel that in and of itself poses any risk to navigation or other shipping. It is a ship designed to gather intelligence in those waters...and that's the rub. The US has technology that allows it to gather good intelligence from well outside of territorial waters and other a nation like the PRC resents this.
My guess is, that the PRC will use exactly the same typ of technology, or that of their own, to eavesdrop on US capabilities whenever they can, or whenever they develop it.
