Last Updated on August 26, 2020, 9:40 AM AST by Anthony Morris
China has said that the intrusion of US military aircraft into Chinese airspace during live-fire military exercises was “blatant provocation” and this could lead to “misjudgments and accidents”.
China has said so as a second US reconnaissance aircraft is said to have flown and passed over the South China Sea on Wednesday.
A day after a U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the United States had flown into Chinese air space during live-fire exercises by the PLA northern theatre command, a US RC-135S reconnaissance aircraft on Wednesday flew near a different and ongoing PLA drill in the South China Sea.
The United States aircraft crossed the Bashi Channel from the east, and it is headed southwest into the South China Sea, and then returned on the same route, the Beijing-based think tank, South China Sea Probing Initiative (SCSPI) said so.
Chinese state media, quoting the SCSPI, reported that an ongoing PLA exercise in waters off Hainan Island’s southeast coast.
Both the Chinese defence and foreign ministries have lashed out at the United States for sending spy planes into the mainland airspace during military drills; the foreign ministry of China has lodged a formal protest.
Wu Qian, a defence ministry spokesperson, said that the trespass had severely affected China’s normal military exercises and training activities.
Wu said that it violated the rules of behaviour for air and maritime safety between China and the US, and also relevant international practices.
Chinese state media reported that the PLA has shot down at least five U-2 aircraft in the past as they trespassed into mainland airspace.
The Chinese PLA is currently conducting separate military exercises in three different seas, in itself a rare case of simultaneous drills.
Chinese military expert Ni Lexiong, a retired professor at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, told Reuters.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
