STORY: U.S. and Canadian navies on Saturday (June 3) were conducting a joint exercise in the strait, which separates the island of Taiwan and China when the Chinese ship cut in front of the U.S. guided-missile destroyer Chung-Hoon forcing it to slow down to avoid a collision, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

The Chinese ship's "closest point of approach was 150 yards and its actions violated the maritime 'Rules of the Road' of safe passage in international waters," the U.S. command said.

Video footage broadcast by Canadian website Global News showed the close encounter between the ships.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.