US 'provocation' led to South China Sea fighter jet incident, says Beijing

Beijing on Wednesdayblamed US "provocation" for an incident involving a Chinese planeaggressively manoeuvringnear an American surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.

"The United States' long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harm China's national sovereignty and security," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ningwhile speakingabout the incident.

HedemandedWashington "immediately stop this form of dangerous provocation".

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The United States military had earlier stated that a Chinese fighter pilot carried out an “unnecessarily aggressive manoeuvre” around an American surveillance aircraft flying over the South China Sea last week.

The incident, which the Pentagon called a common behaviour of China, occurred at a time when tensions had already escalated between Beijing and Washington after the latter shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon which was spotted traversing the skies of the United States. The ties were further strained over the issue of Taiwan as China increased military aggression near the island.

The Chinese plane “flew directly in front of and within 400 feet of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the US aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence” on Friday, stated the Indo-Pacific Command (IndoPaCom) in a statement.

“The RC-135 was conducting safe and routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace, in accordance with international law,” the command added.

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In a declassified video footage, a fighter plane is seen crossing in front of the American aircraft which appears to be shaking due to the resulting turbulence.

A senior US defence official stated that there has been an “alarming increase in the number of risky aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea” by Chinese aircraft and ships – actions that “have the potential to create an unsafe incident or miscalculation”.

“We don’t believe it’s done by pilots operating independently. We believe it’s part of a wider pattern," the official stated.

A similar incident, which involved a US RC-135 and a Chinese jet took place in December and forced the American plane “to take evasive manoeuvres to avoid a collision”, stated IndoPaCom at the time.

China turns down invitation

The announcement was made on the latest incident a day after the Pentagon stated that an invitation made by the US to Beijing for Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to meet his Chinese counterpart in Singapore later in the week was rejected.

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However, senior officials stated that the announcement's timing was not related to the refusal of the invitation by China, adding that information about the aircraft incident “was subject to the US military declassification process and US diplomatic communication process”.

Austin as well as other US officials have been taking steps to shore up alliances and partnerships in Asia with the aim to counter Beijing's increasingly assertive moves. Still, there have been tentative signs that show both nations are working to lower the temperature.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi held talks in Vienna earlier this month, and later, US President Joe Biden stated that relations between Beijing and Washington should thaw “very soon”.

(With inputs from agencies)

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