On Tuesday, the US State Department accused China of conducting numerous “risky and coercive” manoeuvres against US jets in the Indo-Pacific over the last two years.
While declassifying photos and videos of the incidents, the US said that China was denying the US and its allies the right to fly in international airspace.
Chinese aircraft have sharply increased what the US says is "coercive and risky" behavior in the South China Sea in the last two years https://t.co/ktqnaJ6sBo
— Bloomberg (@business) October 17, 2023
Overview
Assistant Defence Secretary of the Indo-Pacific Ely Ratner remarked that Chinese jets undertook 180 risky manoeuvres against American planes, while 100 incidents involving the US allies occurred.
He also noted that the number of aerial intercept incidents in the past two years is higher than in the past decade.
Intercepts refer to an aircraft from a military coming close to a plane, mainly as a part of a shadowing action when the intercepted aircraft is near another nation’s airspace.
While saying that rogue pilots did not conduct the acts, Ratner stressed, “The People’s Republic of China can and must end this behaviour.”
Ratner said the manoeuvres were a centralised and concerted effort to pressure the US and its allies. While releasing photos and videos illustrating the actions, Ratner said, “The US will not be coerced.”
The Incidents
The US declassified videos and pictures of 15 such incidents undertaken by China.
The manoeuvres included fighter jets releasing chaff and flying very close to an aircraft.
One incident from July shows a Chinese jet deploying flares over the East China Sea, and the Pentagon said that the aircraft sent eight flares just 900 feet from a US plane.
Another incident involved a Chinese fighter flying within 30 feet of a US aircraft for 15 minutes.
Chinese Military Power Report, China’s Response
The videos have been released ahead of the annual Chinese Military Power Report to be submitted by the Pentagon to the US Congress.
Head of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John Aquilino highlighted that a subset of the 180 incidents were “unsafe and unprofessional,” a category more dangerous than “coercive and risky.”
Ratner mentioned that the upcoming report will highlight the increased harassing behaviour of China.
The Pentagon has accused the Chinese military of “a sharp increase in coercive and risky” behavior in airspace above the East and South China seas over the last two years, amid fears that an accident could erupt into full-scale conflict. https://t.co/nJDov3RG5m
— The Japan Times (@japantimes) October 18, 2023
Asking the Biden administration to stop spreading disinformation, the Chinese embassy in Washington said that Beijing had taken “necessary measures.”
Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said, “US military vessels and aircraft conduct frequent close-in reconnaissance on China, including 657 sorties last year in the South China Sea alone.”
Beijing Intercepts Canadian Jet
The US accusations come a day after a Chinese military jet intercepted an Aurora aircraft of the Canadian Armed Forces in an “aggressive manner.”
According to Global News, during the eight-hour-long mission, two Chinese jets intercepted the Canadian plane and came within 5 metres of the aircraft.
While most intercepts were deemed professional, the last jet was aggressive and launched firework-like flares near the Canadian aircraft.