On Thursday (December 29), the US Indo-Pacific Command, the United States Armed Forces’ unified combatant command for the Indo-Pacific region, released a statement on its website. It said that “On December 21 a People’s Liberation Army – Navy J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during an intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace.”
Furthermore, the statement read that the PLAN pilot flew “in front of and within 20 feet of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the RC-135 to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.” The statement emphasised upon the US’s commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
China is yet to react to the United State’s statement. Notably, China claims a huge part of the South China Sea as its own territory though these claims are not recognised by most other countries and international institutions.
The Indian Express takes a closer look at the incident, and the South China Sea conflict which has put the region on tenterhooks.
Perilously close to disaster
The US aircraft, a Boeing RC-135, was on a “routine mission” over the South China Sea when it was intercepted by the Chinese fighter jet.
While the US military did not reveal the exact nature of its mission, the RC-135 is an extensively modified C-135 with “modifications primarily related to its on-board sensor suite.” It is typically used for reconnaissance missions. Notably, the aircraft has no offensive capabilities.
The Chinese fighter jet involved is the twin-engine Shenyang J-11, an indigenously produced fighter plane which uses the airframe of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27. Pictures released by the US military show that it was armed with four missiles on the hardpoints under its wings.
Source: US Indo-Pacific Command
The J-11 pulled up to the side of the Boeing and then occupied the space in its front, putting the aircrafts perilously close to a mid-air collision. US military sources told Reuters that the Chinese aircraft came within 20 feet (slightly more than six metres) of the Boeing’s nose and around 10 feet of its wing, forcing the US crew to conduct evasive manoeuvres.
Not the first instance of an “unsafe intercept” carried out by the Chinese
In May, Australia accused China of a similar action. The Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted on May 26 by a Chinese J-16 fighter aircraft, during what was a routine maritime surveillance activity, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said in a statement.
The Chinese aircraft released flares and cut in front of the Australian surveillance plane. The Chinese jet then released “chaff” – an anti-radar device which includes small pieces of aluminium – which entered the Australian plane’s engine.
The Canadian military had also accused China of harassing its patrol jets enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea. Sources told Canadian news agency Global News in June that there had been approximately 60 intercepts by Chinese fighter jets since Christmas 2021, over two dozen of which have been deemed dangerous.
Beijing is using its pilots in a high-stakes “game of chicken,” Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert on the Chinese military and a non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told CNN. “They are engaging in these risky behaviors and then saying (to opponents), it would be safer for you if you weren’t here,” said Mastro.
A territorial dispute dating back to the 1970s
The South China Sea is among the volatile regions of the world. Lying just south of the Chinese mainland, it is bordered by Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
As early as the 1970s, these countries began to claim islands (mostly uninhabited) throughout the sea to lay control over the various resources that the region possessed, such as untapped oil reserves, natural gas, and fishing areas. It also has some of the most active shipping lanes on the planet.
Today, China’s sweeping claims over the sea have antagonised other countries in the region. China claims the sea as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), arguing that other countries do not have the right to conduct any military or economic operation without its consent.
This claim is disputed by the southeast Asian countries and in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague issued its ruling on a claim brought against China by the Philippines under UNCLOS. It ruled in favour of the Philippines on almost every count. However, China, which itself is a signatory to UNCLOS, refused to acknowledge the court’s authority.
Recent escalations
China has been aggressive in its attempts to claim and control the South China Sea, militarily occupying various islands as well creating artificial islands in the area.
Tensions escalated to a high when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan amidst loud protests from Beijing. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, and said that Pelosi’s visit was tantamount to interfering in its internal affairs. While the US has historically maintained an arm’s length from territorial disputes involving China (whether it be Taiwan or Tibet), China’s militarism has managed to increasingly draw in the superpower into the conflict.
The latest incident is a part of a whole host of escalations in the region, with both China and its opponents hardening their stances on the issue.
Crucially, the US has grown increasingly wary of China’s “grey zone” tactics – strategies, military or otherwise, which are intended to achieve a political aim without reaching the threshold of armed conflict.
While China is yet to react to this aircraft incident, after the earlier incident with Australia, it said that the Australian military aircraft had threatened China’s sovereignty and security and the countermeasures taken by the Chinese military were reasonable and lawful.
