On Tuesday, the US accused China of a “concerted” campaign of dangerous and provocative air force maneuvers against US military jets in international airspace that may lead to conflict.
In the East China Sea, it appears that a Chinese aircraft is getting closer, as it is only 3 meters (9.8 feet) below a plane that belongs to the United States. (Source: ABS-CBN News)
Chinese Endangering US Aircraft Trying to Change US Operation
Since October 2021, Chinese planes have endangered US aircraft flying over the East and South China Seas more than 180 times, “more in the last two years than in the decade before that,” according to US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner. “That’s nearly 200 cases where Chinese operators have discharged chaff or shot flares or approached too rapidly or close to US aircraft,” Ratner was quoted as saying at a news briefing. “This type of operational behavior can cause accidents, and dangerous accidents can lead to inadvertent conflict,” Ratner warned, adding that US allies have contributed to roughly 300 incidents since fall 2021.
Ratner claimed Beijing was trying “to perform these risky behaviors to coerce a change in lawful US operational activity.” “The US will not be intimidated. We will fly, sail, and operate safely and responsibly wherever international law allows, he said. A Chinese fighter plane “approached our asset at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour, clearly armed, and closing to just 30 feet [9m] away,” according to Ratner, and stayed for more than 15 minutes. A nuclear-capable B-52 bomber was used in a weekend joint aerial rehearsal involving Japan, South Korea, and the United States, according to media reports.
An unnamed military source told Yonhap that Sunday’s trilateral exercise would be the first near the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean Ministry of Defense declined to confirm the claims but said the three nations were expanding collaborative exercises “to counter missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.” A source informed Yonhap that the South Korea-US-Japan joint aviation drill will include a formation flight with the US strategic bomber B-52 escorted by fighter jets from the three countries.
READ ALSO: Increasing Opioid Overdose Caused by China Import Fentanyl to US Says Gallagher
