The United States accuses China of dangerous maneuvers in international airspace and released a video of the incident. So far, China has not commented.
The US Pacific Command has accused a Chinese pilot of carrying out an “unnecessarily aggressive” intercept maneuver against a US reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea. As the US Pacific Command announced in a report on Tuesday (May 30), the incident had already occurred on Friday (May 26).
According to its own statements, the US RC-135 aircraft has “safe and routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace”. During the mission, a Chinese pilot suddenly flew directly in front of the US plane and forced it to fly through the wake turbulence of the Chinese jet. Wake vortices are invisible turbulences that occur behind an aircraft and can be dangerous for those following. “We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” it said.
US accuses China of “aggressive” maneuvers against US military plane over South China Sea
The US also released video of the incident on Tuesday. The almost 30-second recording shows from the perspective of the US cockpit how a rapidly approaching jet cuts off the US aircraft from right to left and then moves away again. The camera on the US plane then begins to shake as it has to fly through the turbulence. According to DVIDS, the Chinese jet was a Shenyang J-16 fighter jet.
In a statement following the incident, the US Pacific Command wrote: “The United States will continue to fly, sail and operate – safely and responsibly – wherever international law permits, and the US Indo-Pacific Joint Force will continue to operate in international… Fly airspace while observing the safety of all ships and aircraft under international law.” China had not yet commented on the incident.
Chinese fighter jet and US plane incident: relationship at rock bottom
The incident joins a long chain of mutual allegations between the United States and China. As recently as December, the US Pacific Command had Beijing a similar maneuver over the South China Sea. At the time, a Chinese pilot of a J-11 fighter jet also flew within 20 feet of a US reconnaissance plane, causing the plane to maneuver to avoid a collision. In February, US fighter pilots shot down a Chinese balloon and speculated that it was a spy balloon.
Tensions between China and the US continue to escalate. China claims practically the entire South China Sea for itself, the US and China’s neighbors accuse Beijing of increasing militarization of the region. However, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also claim territories there. All territorial claims were rejected by the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016. Tensions are compounded by China’s backing for Russia’s war against Ukraine and the ongoing trade war with mutual punitive tariffs. (nz/dpa)
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