China buzzes Navy plane over South China Sea
WASHINGTON — A Chinese warplane buzzed a Navy surveillance aircraft on Wednesday over the South China Sea, the scene of close calls and conflict in recent years and the first challenge to U.S. military in the region under President Trump.
The “unsafe” incident occurred on Feb. 8 in international air space between a Navy P-3C surveillance plane and a similar spy aircraft, a Chinese KJ-200, according to Marine Maj. Marine Rob Shuford, U.S. Pacific Command spokesman. The Navy crew was on a routine mission.
“The Department of Defense and U.S. Pacific Command are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces,” Shuford said in a statement. “We will address the issue in appropriate diplomatic and military channels."
Increasing claims by China for sovereignty over large parts South China Sea have been a growing source of friction. The Chinese military has been constructing artificial islands in the resource-rich region atop reefs, paving landing strips and fortifying them. China is also jostling over islands that Japan claims in the East China Sea.
Last May, the Pentagon also labeled as “unsafe,” a Chinese fighter plane that had intercepted a Navy surveillance plane over the South China Sea. A month later, two Chinese J-10 jest intercepted an Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane on routine patrol over the East China Sea.
The Pentagon, under the Obama administration, had conducted occasional “freedom of navigation” missions in which warships would sail near islands in the South China Sea whose sovereignty has been claimed by nations in the region including China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Those missions were aimed at asserting the right to sail unimpeded, and without permission, in international waters. The Chinese government has protested those missions as well as flights by the Navy surveillance planes.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in a visit to Japan last week, played down the prospect for armed confrontation with China and called for diplomacy and communication to ease tensions in the region.
But he stressed that the U.S. Navy would continue to operate there. “At the same time, freedom of navigation is absolute, and whether it be commercial shipping or our U.S. Navy, we will practice in international waters and transit international waters as appropriate,” Mattis said in Tokyo. “So, at this time, we do not see any need for dramatic military moves at all.”
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