A Chinese military jet performed an "unsafe" maneuver
in front of a U.S. reconnaissance plane last week, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
The announcement
came the same day that China's President, promoting peace and downplaying
differences, arrived in Seattle to start a potentially pivotal U.S. visit.
A U.S. RC-135
aircraft operating above the Yellow Sea, approximately 80 miles east of the Shandong
Peninsula, reported the September 15 incident after the Chinese jet passed in
front of the RC-135, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told reporters.
"One of the
maneuvers conducted by the Chinese aircraft during this intercept was perceived
as unsafe by the RC-135 air crew and at this point, right now, there's no
indication this was a near collision, but the report that came back was that
the plane operated in an unsafe fashion," Cook said.
The intercept
follows a more dangerous maneuver
last year when an armed Chinese
fighter jet came within approximately 20 feet of a U.S. Navy P-8 aircraft, at
one point rolling to its side to show the U.S. plane its weapons load, Pentagon
officials said at the time.
'Pattern of aggressive behavior'
While last week's incident was not seen
of as provocative, Cook said the incident was still under review.
It's already
rankled some in Washington. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs
the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the "dangerous Chinese intercept
of a U.S. aircraft last week shows that China feels emboldened to continue its
pattern of aggressive behavior in the Asia-Pacific region."
The tables have
turned before: In May China's
navy issued warnings eight times as a U.S. surveillance plane swooped over islands that Beijing has
claimed over its neighbors' opposition. And two years ago, two unarmed U.S. B-52 bombers flew
through air space claimed by China.
From Beijing's
perspective, the timing of Tuesday's announcement from the Pentagon certainly
could have been better. President Xi Jinping is in the United States and will
have an official state visit Friday with his American counterpart, Barack Obama.
In a written interview with the Wall Street Journal,
Xi downplayed differences between the two countries, saying "even family
members don't always see eye to eye with each other."
As to China
possibly flexing its military muscles, the President insisted his country's
approach is "defensive in nature."
"In
strengthening our defense and military,... we are not going after some kind of
military adventure," Xi said. "It never crosses my mind."
U.S. woman held in China since March
Another sensitive issue between the two
countries came to light around the start of Xi's trip: the months-long
detention of an American woman by Chinese authorities on accusations of spying.
Sandy
Phan-Gillis has been in Chinese custody since she was stopped in March during a
trade visit she was on with officials from Houston, CNN affiliate KTRK reported.
"My wife is
not a spy, and she is not a thief," her husband, Jeff Gillis, told the
broadcaster. My wife is a hard-working businesswoman."
The U.S.
government says it is closely monitoring Phan-Gillis' case.
"We've been
to visit her six times since her arrest, and we've raised her case with Chinese
government officials on multiple occasions at a very senior level," Mark
Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Tuesday at a regular briefing.
Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters Tuesday that Phan-Gillis is
"suspected of endangering China's national security and is currently being
investigated by China's relevant authorities."
Gillis said he
chose to go public over his wife's detention this week in the hope of getting
Obama's attention during Xi's visit.
"I want my
wife back and I'm sure that she wants to be back very much too," he told
KTRK.
No comments:
Post a Comment