Chinese Fighter Jet Intercepts U.S. Spy Plane Over South China Sea

A Chinese fighter jet flew within 400 feet of the nose of a United States reconnaissance aircraft on May 26, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The Pentagon described the incident over the South China Sea as an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver.” A video shows how the fighter jet came close enough to force the U.S. plane to go through the turbulence wake of the Chinese jet.

https://twitter.com/ReadyAlerts/status/1663659451587624962

Disputed waters: This incident is another example of increasingly aggressive confrontations between the two countries this year, and it comes amid the Pentagon’s growing concerns of what it described as “an alarming increase in the number of risky aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by [People’s Liberation Army] aircraft and vessels.” A similar incident over the South China Sea happened in February.

“We don’t believe it’s done by pilots operating independently. We believe it’s part of a wider pattern we see in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere,” a U.S. senior defense official said.

China, however, blames the U.S.:

The U.S.’s provocative and dangerous moves are the root cause of maritime security issues. China urges the U.S. to stop such dangerous provocations and stop deflecting blame on China. China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely defend its sovereignty and security, and work with regional countries to firmly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.
—Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.

The Trumpet says: Watch as China grows more domineering over the South China Sea. Its aggression shows it is trying to gain full control over this vitally important sea passage.

In “China Is Steering the World Toward War,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote: “Now that U.S. military presence in the area has been drastically reduced, China is claiming the entire South China Sea as its own!”