A pair of Chinese fighter jets buzzed a us military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea Tuesday, military officials said.
Advertisement
The Pentagon said two Chinese J-11 fighters flew within about 15 meters (50 feet) of the EP-3 Aries on Tuesday, forcing the USA pilot to descend sharply to avoid a collision.
Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook on Thursday disputed Chinese officials who rejected US claims that its fighter jets maneuvered unsafely.
The J-11 fighters came within 50 feet of the U.S. EP-3 Aries aircraft, an encounter that an unidentified Pentagon source characterized as an “unsafe intercept”, The Associated Press reported.
“Initial reports characterised the incident as unsafe”, he added, without giving additional details.
Poling said either some part of China’s airforce “hadn’t gotten the message”, or it was meant as a signal of displeasure with recent U.S. freedom of navigation actions in the South China Sea. US presidential candidate Donald Trump has said American allies in the region need to do more to provide for their defense and suggested they possibly could acquire nuclear weapons.
Even as U.S. Pacific Command begins probing the incident, China’s Defense Ministry claimed to be “aware of such reports” in its statement.
The U.S. military has conducted three freedom of navigation transits over the past eight months through waters claimed by China in the Spratly Island chain.
The official said China “definitely has people’s attention” at the Pentagon after this stunt. The US Navy plane EP-3 was then conducting reconnaissance close to China’s Hainan Dao.
LEAVING aside some voice of reason, it appears South China Sea may ultimately turn into a war theatre due to rash and provocative policies and behaviour of the United States. “We urge the U.S.to immediately stop spying activities and prevent such events from happening again”, he said. “If Washington denies reasoning, then the South China Sea dispute will become a battle of strength between China and the United States, and a game between Washington’s hegemonic ambition and Beijing’s commitment to sovereignty”, it said.
Reuters said the incident also happened a week after China ordered fighter jets to the area just as an American Navy ship sailed along the South China Sea.
China maintains territorial claims to most of the South China Sea, which includes overlapping claims with Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
The official said the crew aboard the American plane was unharmed in the incident.
Advertisement
This is the second encounter between the U.S. and Chinese militaries in a week.
