A Chinese fighter came within three meters of a North American B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea and nearly caused an accident, the US military said on Friday.
During the nighttime interception, the twin-engine Shenyang J-11 fighter approached the US Air Force aircraft at “excessive and uncontrolled speed, flying under, in front of and within three meters of the B-52, placing both aircraft at risk of collision ,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
#USINDOPACOM Declaration on #PRC Unprofessional interception: “A PRC J-11 pilot conducted an unsafe interception of a U.S. Air Force B-52 aircraft lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea…”
Read more⬇️https://t.co/UnCmnneAr7 pic.twitter.com/6k79Koah3V
– US Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) October 26, 2023
“We are concerned that the pilot did not know he was about to cause a collision”, reads the same note.
The Chinese government has not yet responded, but in a similar incident in May, Beijing rejected US accusations and demanded Washington put an end to these flights over the South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, a maritime space said to be rich in gas and oil reserves and of strategic importance for trade and defense.
In recent years, Beijing has built artificial islands there that could host military installations, contrary to the intentions of Vietnam and the Philippines, which both have claims to the area, as do Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Last week, a Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying ship rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military supply boat off a disputed sandbar in the waterway.
The US and its allies regularly conduct maritime maneuvers in the South China Sea and also regularly fly aircraft over the area to emphasize that the waters and airspace are international.
The B-52 was “legally conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace” when it was intercepted by the J-11 on Tuesday, the US military said.
Interceptions are common: the US says it has recorded more than 180 such incidents since autumn 2021.
However, interceptions are typically not as close as Tuesday’s incident. With tensions already high between Beijing and Washington, a clash could lead to an escalation.
The US military said in the statement that the incident will not change its approach.
“The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate – safely and responsibly – wherever international law allows,” the military said.
Source: DN
