A pair of Chinese fighter jets buzzed a USA military reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea Tuesday, military officials said.
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Two Chinese fighters have conducted an “unsafe” intercept of a United States spy plane in global air space over the South China Sea, the Pentagon has said.
A Chinese J-11 fighter flies in this U.S. Department of Defense photo taken on August 19, 2014. “Initial reports characterised the incident as unsafe”.
The United States and China previous year announced agreements on a military hotline and rules of behaviour to govern air-to-air encounters called the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). The U.S., though not a party to the process, has urged China to accept the outcome, irking Chinese officials who consider arbitration as part of a coordinated effort to isolate Beijing diplomatically.
China, and several other nations, lay claims to maritime figures in the South China Sea.
China claims nearly all the South China Sea, through which more than $5?trillion (pounds 3.4?billion) of world trade is said to pass every year.
Moreover, according to its annual report regarding the Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2015, China has been known to used “low intensity coercion” in order to advance its interests when it comes to territorial disputes.
Frequent reconnaissance missions by U.S. Navy vessels’ aircraft off the Chinese coast jeopardize China’s sea and air safety, Hong said.
Tensions have been increasing between China and the US in the region after US Navy warships have sailed close to contested Chinese islands around the South China Sea.
The American plane was then forced to drop its altitude to 200ft in an incident characterised by the Pentagon as “unsafe”.
A Pentagon report to Congress on Friday that accused China of “coercive tactics” in the region also infuriated the country.
“We demand that the United States immediately cease this type of close reconnaissance activity to avoid having this sort of incident happening again”.
The latest incident comes days before U.S. president Barack Obama travels to Asia for a meeting to include a Group of Seven summit in Japan and his first trip to Vietnam. Hanoi is expected to ask Obama for the purchase of military offensive weapons, with the implied goal of countering China.
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USA officials made no secret of their concern over recent activity by China in the Spratley Islands, which have also been claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and others, by sailing a guided missile destroyer within 12 nautical miles of Fiery Cross Reef. “The US toughness militarily is backed by domestic public opinion and congressional voices”.
