On March 4, Chinese ships and aircraft commenced harassing the USNS Impeccable and the USNS Victorious while they were operating in international waters. The two unarmed, civilian-manned vessels (with U.S. Navy personnel aboard to operate specialized equipment) are designated as ocean surveillance ships. Both are equipped with the newest generation of submarine tracking sonar, known as SURTASS LFA.

The Victorious -- operating in the Yellow Sea, between the Korean Peninsula and mainland China -- was approached at night by a Chinese patrol vessel using a high-intensity spotlight to blind lookouts on the ship's bridge momentarily. The Impeccable -- operating about 75 miles off the coast of Hainan Island, which is a major Chinese naval and submarine base in the South China Sea -- was "buzzed" repeatedly by Chinese Y-12 maritime patrol aircraft and then surrounded by no fewer than five Chinese vessels.

According to the official complaint filed with Beijing by the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, the confrontation required the Impeccable to "maneuver to avoid" a collision with a Chinese navy frigate; the Chinese ships approached to within 25 feet of the U.S. vessel; and "high pressure water hoses were employed" to prevent the ships from being boarded. A Defense Department spokesman said that Chinese sailors made "an attempt to snag the Impeccable's towed acoustic array sonar" and described the incident as evidence of "increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels."

Provocations by the increasingly assertive People's Republic of China are nothing new. Nor are "tests" for new administrations by foreign rivals. George W. Bush was in office for less than 40 days when a Chinese J-8 fighter, harassing a U.S. Navy EP-3 70 miles off Hainan Island, collided with the slower, less maneuverable U.S. surveillance plane. The pilot of the Chinese fighter was killed; the EP-3 made an emergency landing on Hainan, and the crew was detained for 11 days. After the crew and plane were released, the U.S. suspended military-to-military talks with China.

Whether that was a sufficient response to a Chinese-provoked near catastrophe is arguable. But it was certainly more forceful than the Obama administration's continued affirmation that it wants to proceed with codifying the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty. According to China, LOST precludes intelligence collection within their claimed 200-mile offshore "exclusive economic zone." Coupled with the warm welcome to Washington offered to Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi this week, it's enough to make one wonder whether the "O-Team" ever will pass the test. Can't we just get along?