Chinese Underwear

Summary: US unarmed sonar vessel in international waters gets crowded by a number of Chinese ships, supposedly in a game of "chicken" much like the one the Chinese played with that unarmed reconnaissance airplane back in 2001. Only this time nobody bumped into anybody else, but they did get close enough that the US vessel took a fire hose to the Chinese ships, and for some weird reason the Chinese sailors responded by taking off their clothes and running around in their underwear. Which got me wondering. Are Chinese uniforms dry-clean only, so they stripped to avoid ruining their suits? Are they that hard up for showers that they had to get a US ship to hose them down? Were there female sailors on the US ship that they were trying to flirt with?

Took a little bit, but I found the answer to the Chinese underwear question in the Guardian

"In the annals of great naval battles, the contretemps may not rank alongside Trafalgar or Jutland. But it must be a contender for this year's award for naked aggression"

Who says the Brits don't have a sense of humor.