Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: The US military officials claimed on Thursday that a Chinese military aircraft came within 10 feet of a US airplane in the contested South China Sea last week of this month and forced it to take elusive maneuvers to avoid a crash in international airspace
The incident took place on December 21 between a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet and a U.S. air force RC-135 aircraft, the US military said in a statement. It said that they expect all countries in the region of Indo-Pacific to use airspace safely as per international law.
U.S-China ties
The Chinese plane came within ten feet of the aircraft’s wing, but twenty feet from its nose, which caused the US plane to take slippery maneuvers, a US military spokesperson said. Another US official said that Washington has raised the matter with Beijing. According to Reuters, the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on the issue.
Earlier, China had said that the US sending ships and aircraft into the South China Sea is not good for peace in the region. US military ships and planes routinely carry out surveillance operations and travel through the region.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August enraged China, which saw it as a US attempt to interfere in its domestic affairs. China then launched military drills near Taiwan.
