China’s Foreign Ministry says an underwater drone taken by one of Beijing’s naval vessels last week has been returned to the U.S.
“After friendly consultations between China and the United States, the transfer of the US underwater drone was smoothly completed,” the ministry said in a statement, according to CNN.
The Pentagon said the U.S. will be investigating the “unlawful” seizure.
“The US remains committed to upholding the accepted principles and norms of international law and freedom of navigation and overflight and will continue to fly, sail, and operate in the South China Sea wherever international law allows, in the same way that we operate everywhere else around the world,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
{mosads}China first took the drone from international waters off the coast of the Philippines last Thursday.
The USNS Bowditch, an oceanographic survey ship, was set to retrieve the drone as part of routine operations when a Chinese ship dropped its own small boat in the water and seized the device.
The crew on the Bowditch signaled the Chinese ship to return the drone, but the boat sailed away.
Some have suggested that China’s initial seizure of the drone was a response to President-elect Donald Trump’s phone call with Taiwan’s leader earlier this month.
After China said on Saturday that it would return the unnamed underwater vehicle, Trump tweeted that Beijing should keep what it “stole.”
This report was updated at 7:13 a.m.