Chinese Fighter Jet Intimidates U.S. Patrol Plane Over South China Sea
A Chinese J-11 jet fighter armed with four missiles shadowed a United States Navy P-8 patrol plane in international airspace over the South China Sea on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Chinese jet suddenly appeared behind the American aircraft, passed above, and then settled alongside the P-8, just a few hundred feet from its wing. The Chinese military warned the U.S. airplane not to come any closer.
American aircraft, this is the pla [People’s Liberation Army] Air Force. You are approaching Chinese airspace. Keep a safe distance or you will be intercepted
—Chinese military ground station broadcast
U.S. patrol planes fly over the South China Sea as part of efforts designed to keep the region open to navigation and to record China’s militarization of artificial islands. The crew on the P-8 was using cameras, radar and other sensors to examine military facilities on the islands.
After U.S. forces replied that they were flying in international airspace, the Chinese ground station said: “No approaching anymore, or you will pay full responsibility.” The Chinese jet finally pulled away after the P-8 departed from the area over the Paracel Islands.
U.S. officials report that such encounters have become an almost daily occurrence and Chinese fighter pilots are growing more aggressive toward U.S. airplanes patrolling the South China Sea.
In December, the U.S. military released footage of a Chinese fighter jet flying within 20 feet of an American Air Force plane over the South China Sea. The U.S. jet was forced to take evasive maneuvers to avoid collision.
The Trumpet says: We should carefully watch as China increases its dominance over the South China Sea. In his article “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!”
God warned the descendants of Israel in Deuteronomy 28 that if they refused to turn to Him, He would give control over strategic sea gates and routes to their enemies: “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates …” (verse 52). These descendants today are mainly in the U.S. and Britain. China’s unlawful claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea and its belligerent push against the peace are one area where we can see this prophecy being fulfilled.
