The US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) said on Thursday that a pilot of A Chinese Air Force J-11 fighter jet performed a dangerous maneuver next to a US Air Force RC-135 aircraft over the South China Sea on Dec. 21, Reuters reports.
The Chinese military aircraft came within 3 meters from a US Air Force jet in the disputed South China Sea, forcing it to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision in international airspace, the US military said Thursday.
The close encounter followed what the United States described as recent a trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by the Chinese military airplanes.
“We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” the US command said.
The United States has raised the issue with the Chinese governmentoh, commented a US official. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has repeatedly stated that the sending of US ships and aircraft in the South China Sea are not good for peace.
US military aircraft and vessels conduct regular surveillance operations and travel through the region.
China claims huge parts of the South China Sea, which overlap with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines. Trillions of dollars of trade flow through the waterway each year, which also contains rich fishing grounds and gas fields.
In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in November, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raised the need to improve crisis communications and also noted what he called dangerous behavior by Chinese warplanes.
Despite the tensions between the United States and ChinaUS military officials have long sought to maintain open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts, for to reduce the potential risk conflicts or to deal with incidents.
Ministry of Defense of Australia reported in June that a Chinese fighter jet had dangerously hit an Australian military plane for observation in the South China Sea region in May.
Australia said the Chinese plane flew close to the RAAF plane and dropped small pieces of aluminum which landed in the Australian plane’s engine.
In June, the Canadian military accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol planesas they watch North Korea evade sanctions, sometimes forcing Canadian planes to deviate from their flight paths.
Relations between China and the United States are strained, with friction between the world’s two largest economies over everything from Taiwan and China’s human rights to its military activity in the South China Sea.
The visit of the speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan in August it enraged China, which saw it as an attempt by the United States to meddle in its internal affairs. Consequentially China has launched military exercises near the island.
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
