Chinese Fighter Jet Accused by US of Taking 'Aggressive' Action

BEIJING: On Wednesday, Beijing demanded an end to such flights in response to American objections about a Chinese fighter jet's risky interception of an American Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over international airspace in the South China Sea. The event heightens the military, political, and economic tensions that already exist between the two nations over issues including US support for Taiwan's self-rule, China's refusal to hold military talks with the US, and Beijing's alleged use of a spy balloon above the US.

Mao Ning, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, assured reporters at a daily briefing that China will continue to take whatever steps it saw necessary to protect its sovereignty. "The US should immediately stop these dangerous provocations," Mao said. The US Indo-Pacific Command called the Chinese plane's actions an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver”,adding to the criticisms that US aircraft and ships have been intercepted in the area by China's military during the previous five years, despite China's military being noticeably more aggressive.

The Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia are just a few of the countries who directly dispute China's assertion that it practically controls the entire South China Sea. This claim is not accepted worldwide. The RC-135 was conducting routine operations in international airspace last Friday, according to a statement on Tuesday from the US military, when the Chinese J-16 fighter jet's pilot flew directly in front of its nose.

Despite a historic fall in governmental connections, military-to-military contacts between the two have all but vanished in recent years despite continued significant economic and interpersonal interactions. When the two men attend a security conference in Singapore over the weekend, China announced that its defence leader will not meet with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, further dimming hopes for a drop in hostilities.

On Saturday, Austin will talk at the Shangri-La Dialogue; on Sunday, Gen. Li Shangfu, China's deputy defence minister, will do the same.

The plane incident, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demonstrated why it is essential for the US and China to continue high-level contact in order to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes that can result in conflict. He called Beijing's decision to deny Austin's request for a meeting with the Chinese military minister "regrettable."

Although China has not publicly stated a reason, it has claimed that the US is solely to blame for the communications breakdown.

China regularly engages military aircraft from the US and its allies in the South and East China Seas, as well as the Taiwan Strait that connects the two, with the People's Liberation Army serving as the largest standing military in the world and directly reporting to the Communist Party in power. In 2001, such conduct caused an in-flight collision between a Chinese fighter and a US Navy surveillance plane, which resulted in the loss of the Chinese plane and the death of the pilot.

ALSO READ: Armed Miscreants Attempt to Loot SBI CSP in Barpeta Road

ALSO WATCH: