Many experts believe that Beijing would probably declare an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea to match the one it has already claimed in the East China Sea.
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US Navy The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, the guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin, the guided-missile destroyers USS Sampson and USS Pinkney, and the guided-missile frigate USS Rentz operate in formation in the South China Sea.
In an issued statement late this week, Niger has said countries and even global tribunals, should respect China’s decision to choose how it would settle its internal issues, the Economic Times reported.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters Thursday that the incident “is still under review – but certainly our air crew felt that this was not conducted in the safest and most professional way”.
China has said on many occasions that since the 1970s, the Philippines has illegally seized by force maritime features of China’s Nansha Islands in disregard of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing worldwide relations, and this is “the root and direct cause” of the two countries’ disputes over the South China Sea. In 2001, a Chinese jet collided with a US spy plane, killing the Chinese pilot and forcing the USA crew to land in Chinese territory.
The intercept is also days before President Barack Obama travels to parts of Asia from May 21-28, which will include a Group of Seven summit in Japan and his first trip to Vietnam.
Washington has accused Beijing of militarising the South China Sea after creating artificial islands while Beijing, in turn, has criticised increased U.S. naval patrols and exercises in Asia.
China claims to have territorial ownership in the South China Sea, but Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan dispute the claim.
“We demand that the USA immediately cease this type of close reconnaissance and prevent this sort of incident from happening again”.
The Pentagon statement said the Department of Defense was addressing the issue through military and diplomatic channels.
While it is part of the U.S.to keep tension in the region, it is a natural reaction for Chinese forces to verify and identify approaching USA planes and warships, according to Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute.
“This is exactly the type of irresponsible and risky intercepts that the air-to-air annex to CUES is supposed to prevent”, said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank.
Zhang Baohui, a security expert at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University, said he believed the encounter highlighted the limitation of CUES, and shows that Chinese pilots would still fly close to USA surveillance planes if needed. South China Sea has been making news for a while; its significance will explain China’s interest in keeping the sea under its control.
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“The fact is that China consistently stands for open and inclusive regional cooperation”, he added. “These acts have sent the wrong signal to the Philippines and others who have recklessly deployed military facilities on their illegally occupied islands”, said the envoy. The crew was released when the USA apologized for the incident 11 days later.
