The United States and Chinese governments accused one another of aggressive behavior after the Pentagon said Wednesday that two Chinese fighter jets made an “unsafe” interception of an American surveillance craft.
Beijing responded to the charge on Thursday, saying its pilots kept a “safe distance” during the incident, which occurred in the South China Sea. It also said the US should stop “close-in reconnaissance activities,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The South China Sea has increasingly become a focal point for geopolitical tensions. China has in recent years claimed small islands in the ocean more than 1,000 miles off its coast.
The expansion has concerned its neighbors, including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The US has a bilateral defense treaty with the Philippines, which it occupied for decades after the Spanish-American War.
Last year, the Obama administration started publicly saying it would challenge Chinese claims by ordering warships and planes within the 12-mile limit staked out by Beijing. The move came after calls for the US to do so from lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Committee chair John McCain (R-Ariz.).
“The best sign of respecting freedom of the seas is not to de facto recognize a 12-mile limit,” McCain said in September. “The best way you can make sure that is not recognized is to sail your ships in international waters–which it clearly is; these are artificial islands–and pass right on by.”
The Chinese government said the incident occurred near Hainan island, according to The Wall Street Journal; not far from where, in 2001, a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet collided. The crash killed the Chinese pilot and forced the American crew to make an emergency landing on Hainan.
The Pentagon said the most recent bout of aerial tension occurred Tuesday, and that “initial reports characterized the incident as unsafe.” US officials say they have photos of the Chinese planes, “but they are classified,” according to NBC News.
The Department of Defense did, however, praise China for “improvements” over the past twelve months. It says the Chinese air force is increasingly “flying in a safe and professional manner.”
Last summer, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the agency’s top official on East Asian affairs said he worried about tensions in the South China Sea boiling over.
“Regrettably, I don’t know anyone in the region who believes that a negotiated settlement between China and other claimants is attainable in the current atmosphere,” he said.
The US last reported an “unsafe” intercept of one of its spy planes by Chinese pilots in September.
