China will return an underwater US drone seized by a naval vessel this week in the South China Sea with Beijing complaining that Washington had been “hyping up” the incident. But US president- elect Donald Trump tweeted, “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back – let them keep it!” He vowed to take an aggressive approach in dealing with China over its economic and military policies as he jumped on the unusual drone seizure with a pair of provocative tweets, accusing Beijing of stealing the equipment.

Porcalla, D. (2016, December 19). China to return US drone; keep it, says Trump. The Philippine Star, p. 15.