(UPI) — The Chinese government said Monday the U.S. underwater military drone it captured is evidence of a U.S. strategy against China.

The drone was captured Thursday in the South China Sea off the Philippines coast. The United States publicly demanded its return. China agreed to return it, although the Pentagon said Sunday that details of the transfer have not been worked out.

“The U.S. side played down its drone activities, but its intention behind them cannot be concealed.

The drone that emerged from the South China Sea is just the tip of the iceberg in the U.S. military strategy on China,” the People’s Daily, the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, said in a commentary. …