U.S. says Chinese intercept could have caused air collision : NPR

A Chinese J-11 army fighter jet flies above the Taiwan Strait in the vicinity of Pingtan, the closest land of mainland China to the island of Taiwan, in southeastern China’s Fujian Province on Aug. 5, 2022.

Ng Han Guan/AP

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Ng Han Guan/AP

A Chinese J-11 navy fighter jet flies earlier mentioned the Taiwan Strait around Pingtan, the closest land of mainland China to the island of Taiwan, in southeastern China’s Fujian Province on Aug. 5, 2022.

Ng Han Guan/AP

BEIJING — The U.S. navy states a Chinese navy fighter jet flew dangerously shut to an Air Drive reconnaissance airplane in excess of the South China Sea before this thirty day period, forcing the American pilot to maneuver to steer clear of a collision.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated in a statement Thursday that the incident occurred Dec. 21 when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy J-11 flew in front of and inside 20 toes of the nose of an RC-135, a type of huge reconnaissance airplane operated by the U.S. Air Drive.

The U.S. aircraft was “lawfully conducting plan operations around the South China Sea in global airspace,” the statement explained. Its pilot was compelled to “take evasive maneuvers to prevent a collision,” it mentioned.

U.S. Rejects Beijing's Maritime Claims In South China Sea

China commonly challenges army plane from the U.S. and its allies, in particular about the South China Sea, which China promises in its entirety. This sort of actions led to a 2001 in-air collision in which a Chinese plane was misplaced and pilot killed.

“The U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a totally free and open up Indo-Pacific area and will continue on to fly, sail and run at sea and in intercontinental airspace with owing regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft underneath global regulation,” the assertion stated.

“We be expecting all nations around the world in the Indo-Pacific area to use international airspace properly and in accordance with international law,” it said.

China deeply resents the presence of U.S. military assets in the South China Sea and routinely calls for its ships and planes leave the place. The U.S. says it is absolutely entitled to work in and more than the South China Sea and ignores the Chinese demands.

This sort of dangerous incidents persist despite U.S.-China agreements on how to deal with sudden encounters.

The U.S. and others have also accused China of harassing army plane and ships in the East China Sea off the Chinese coastline and as considerably absent as the Horn of Africa, where China operates a naval base.

There was no rapid reaction from the PLA, the army wing of China’s ruling Communist Celebration, to the most recent U.S. grievance.