US Navy says its photo of Chinese aircraft carrier showed PLA's 'restrictions'

A US Navy commander has spoken for the first time about a photograph of Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning taken from its guided missile destroyer USS Mustin during their close encounter in the disputed South China Sea last year. Vice-Admiral Roy Kitchener, commander of US Naval Surface Forces, said the USS Mustin shadowed the Liaoning last April and was able to take photographs and observe that the Chinese carrier was subject to "operating restrictions". US crew members "realised that at some point all the Chinese escorts sort of backed off" because "there's some operating restrictions that they had around the…