China slammed over ‘unsafe intercept’ of US spy plane in international airspace
A CHINESE fighter jet got way too close to a US spy plane on Tuesday. It turns out China has a history of reckless airmanship.
WHAT is going on in the skies over the South China Sea?
If you listen to the Americans, jet pilots behind the controls of Chinese fighter aircraft are consistently engaging them in dangerous manoeuvres.
The latest incident took place on Tuesday in international airspace when, according to the US Pacific Command, two Chinese J-10 fighter planes carried out an “unsafe” intercept of a US spy plane on a routine patrol.
“One of the intercepting Chinese jets had an unsafe excessive rate of closure on the (American) aircraft,” Pacific Command said in a statement.
“Initial assessment is that this seems to be a case of improper airmanship, as no other provocative or unsafe manoeuvres occurred.”
It’s not clear how close the Chinese fighter jet came to the US plane and it’s not the first time it’s happened.
In May, the Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets flew within 15m of a US EP-3 aircraft over the South China Sea.
The Pentagon said that incident was a violation of an agreement the two governments signed in 2015 after another close encounter.
In August, 2014, the Pentagon got even closer. Spokesman John Kirby said the pilot’s actions — he flew within 10m of a US aircraft — was “unsafe and unprofessional”.
There’s history between the two countries that goes all the way back to 2001 when Chinese and an American plane collided over the South China Sea.
The Hainan Island incident resulted in the death of Chinese pilot Wang Wei. China was trying to intercept the US spy plane when they came into contact. No Americans on board were killed but the incident led to a tense stand off between the two countries.
China held the 24-man crew for 11 days before finally releasing them.
On Tuesday, Pacific Command said the Department of Defense” was addressing the issue with China in “appropriate diplomatic military channels”.
China has claimed most of the South China Sea but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also lay claim to overlapping areas.
American military personnel have experienced other recent close calls not involving China.
On April 11 and 12 in the Baltic Sea, a US Navy destroyer was repeatedly “buzzed” by Russian Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft.
The Russian jets made numerous passes at low altitude, buzzing over the deck of the 154m-long vessel as sailors watch on nervously.
The Washington Post reported Russia made more than 15 “close range passes”. It’s believed Russia’s flyover tactics were also in contravention of a treaty signed between the US and the Soviet Union in 1973, following a series of close calls.