Nearly 200 reckless manoeuvres by Chinese military aircraft near US aircraft since 2021. Read more at straitstimes.com.
A Chinese military plane within 6m of a US Air Force aircraft in this image taken from a video on Dec 21, 2022.
WASHINGTON – Chinese military aircraft have carried out risky or reckless manoeuvres close to US aircraft nearly 200 times since 2021, a United States official said on Tuesday, putting a figure on what the Pentagon has called China’s increasingly dangerous behaviour in the skies. But despite the large number of risky intercepts, the official declined to say how many of those close calls were “unsafe and unprofessional” – a standard military term used when interactions are actually dangerous.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been 180 incidents since 2021 against US military aircraft, and the number increased to 300 when it included manoeuvres near aircraft of allies.Canada’s military accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol aircraft Relations between China and the United States have been tense, with friction between the world’s two largest economies over everything from Taiwan and China’s human rights record to its military activity in the South China SeaLast week, the Pentagon said it had accepted an invitation to attend China’s top annual security forum in late October, the latest sign of potentially warming ties between the two countries’ militaries.