One A Chinese fighter plane approached it within three meters A US Air Force B-52 bomber flew over the South China Sea on Tuesday, the US military said. He added that the Chinese pilot “flew in an unsafe and unprofessional manner, and demonstrated poor flying skills by approaching at excessive, uncontrollable speed, and flying under, in front of, and within 10 feet of the B-52, putting both planes at risk of collision.” The United States said in a statement issued by the Indo-Pacific Command on Thursday.
When the news came Joe Biden The president is expected to speak Wang Yi With China’s foreign minister on Friday at the White House, it was reported on Thursday CNN. It is not clear whether the meeting will be a formal or more informal discussion. Fang is expected on Thursday Anthony Blinken With the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on Friday Jake Sullivan He also meets with the National Security Advisor.
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping The Chinese president may also meet as part of next month’s APEC summit in San Francisco, although neither side has yet confirmed final plans.
Washington and Beijing point to each other
The United States and China on Thursday released footage of each other accusing each other of provocative maneuvers in and around the South China Sea, raising tensions over the disputed waterway.
The Chinese Defense Ministry released the video during its regular press conference, which said the US fighter jet “conducted close harassment” against a Chinese naval task force that was conducting routine training in the South China Sea on August 19. According to a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman, the video shows that the American side is the real instigator. Wu Qian He said that the US warship’s actions “endanger China’s national security,” and therefore his country will take all necessary measures to resolutely protect national sovereignty.
the Pentagon Chief Security Officer for the Indo-Pacific Region, Eli Ratner He said earlier this month that the United States had seen more “coercive and risky” behavior by Chinese pilots against American aircraft over the East China Sea and South China Sea in the past two years than in the entire decade before that.
Since the fall of 2021, we have witnessed more than 180 such incidents. It is a coordinated campaign against these risky activities to force change in legitimate US operations.
Ratner confirmed.
The Pentagon’s efforts this year to communicate with the Chinese military leadership went unanswered, and American officials became increasingly concerned about the lack of dialogue between the two countries. Beijing then cut off communications Nancy Pelosi The then parliament speaker visited Taiwan last year, angering Chinese leaders.
China already has a standing army of more than a million soldiers, the largest navy in the world by number of ships, and the largest air force in the region. Beijing claims undisputed sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and uses its military might to enforce its sovereignty claims in disputed waters and beyond, including Taiwan.
