What's Going On in the South China Sea?

The main article on CNN.com today was about the conflict in the South China Sea between a U.S. ocean surveillance ship--the USNS Impeccable--and some Chinese ships. The Pentagon and the Chinese government are releasing competing statements regarding what happened and why it happened.

I have no doubt that this is actually a really serious issue, but this particular quote from the Pentagon made me question exactly how this whole thing went down:

"Because the vessels' intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself," the Pentagon's statement said. "The Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet."

That's it, China. If you come any closer with your boats we're gonna spray you with water! Yeah, you heard me. WATER! We're not afraid of you or your tighty whities!