Hagel: China warship action 'irresponsible' 20 December 2013 Last updated at 03:22 China was "irresponsible" and "unhelpful" during the near-collision of a US warship and a Chinese naval vessel, the US Defence Secretary said. Chuck Hagel said the Chinese boat cut in front of USS Cowpens on 5 December, and described the act as "incendiary." China, who described the incident as an "encounter," said the incident was handled with "strict protocol." The US said its guided missile cruiser was operating in international waters when a Chinese navy vessel forced it to take evasive action. But China claims parts of the South China Sea, and state-run newspaper Global Times quoted an expert as saying that the US boat had been "harassing" China's aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as it carried out drills. Mr Hagel told reporters: "That action by the Chinese, cutting their ship 100 yards [91m; 300ft] out in front of the [USS] Cowpens, was not a responsible action." He said the incident was "the kind of thing that's very incendiary, that could be a trigger or a spark that could set off some eventual miscalculation." "Some kind of a mechanism" was needed "to defuse some of these issues as they occur," he added.