US: China Fighter Jet Flew within 6 Meters of Our Surveillance Plane

By Staff, Agencies

The US military announced that “A Chinese fighter jet flew within six meters [20 feet] of a United States Air Force surveillance plane over the hotly contested South China Sea earlier this month.”

On December 21, a Chinese J-11 fighter pilot performed an “unsafe” maneuver during an intercept of a US Air Force RC-135 aircraft, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command, which also released a video clip of the incident.

Footage of the encounter shows the Chinese jet fighter flying within several meters of the nose of the much larger surveillance plane, a maneuver which the US said had forced its pilot to take “evasive” measures to avoid a collision.

The US said its aircraft was flying “lawfully” while conducting routine operations in international airspace.

“The US Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law,” the US military said in a statement.

“We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” the statement added.

Allies and partners in the region,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a separate statement.

China stresses that nearly all of the South China Sea, despite a 2016 international court ruling that Beijing’s claims had no merit. The US has also dismissed China’s claims on the resource-rich waters.