Chinese jet fighter shadows U.S. aircraft over South China Sea, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 24, 2023.
Encounter in the sky Friday, witnessed by a reporter, shows Beijing’s pilots are turning more aggressive, U.S. says
A Chinese J-11 jet fighter, armed with four air-to-air missiles, appeared at the rear of an American P-8 patrol aircraft, passed above and settled a few hundred feet from the wing of the U.S. Navy plane.
“American aircraft, this is the PLA air force. You are approaching Chinese airspace. Keep a safe distance or you will be intercepted,” a Chinese military ground station broadcast to the P-8, using the abbreviation for the People’s Liberation Army.
Encounters such as the one on Friday over the South China Sea are now a near-daily occurrence, and they are becoming more dangerous, U.S. officials say.
In December, the U.S. accused a Chinese jet fighter of flying within 20 feet of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea. Beijing said the U.S. plane veered suddenly toward the jet. China hasn’t responded to U.S. calls for talks about unsafe military encounters.
“The long-term trend is more and more aggression” by Chinese fighter pilots, said Capt. Will Toraason, the commander of U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The U.S. shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon after it passed over the U.S. earlier this month, raising tensions. China said it was a civilian meteorological balloon that blew off course.
Beijing has in turn accused the U.S. of spying on China, including by using patrol aircraft over the South China Sea. China claims almost all of the resource-rich maritime region, which is also an important trade route.
China has built military bases on artificial islands in the waters. That puts it into confrontation with other countries in the region that also have territorial claims and adds to U.S. concerns about trade routes and regional security.
Earlier this month, the Philippines said China’s coast guard used a military-grade laser against a Philippine coast guard ship in the South China Sea.
U.S. patrol aircraft fly over the South China Sea on most days to push back on China’s claims of control of the region, as well as to record images of the militarization of artificial islands. The Wall Street Journal flew on a P-8 patrol plane Friday as the crew used cameras, radar and other sensors to look at ships, aircraft and facilities on the islands.
The encounter between the P-8 and the Chinese jet fighter occurred a few dozen miles north of the Paracel Islands, claimed by both China and Vietnam. China has built military facilities on some of the islands.
The P-8 responded to the Chinese warning by saying it was flying in international airspace. The Chinese ground station replied: “No approaching any more or you will pay full responsibility.”
With the Chinese jet fighter still nearby, the U.S. Navy aircraft looped south around the islands and headed back across the South China Sea, passing over the Spratly Islands, another contested region. The Chinese jet pulled away after about an hour as the P-8 left the area of the Paracel Islands. No further jet fighters were seen.
China’s foreign ministry didn’t respond to questions about what territory it claims in the South China Sea or what it thinks about U.S. patrol flights.
After the December incident, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: “The U.S. has frequently deployed aircraft and vessels for close-in reconnaissance on China, which poses a serious danger to China’s national security. The U.S.’s provocative and dangerous moves are the root cause of maritime security issues.”
“China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely defend its sovereignty and security,” the spokesman said.
The P-8 returned to its base in Okinawa, Japan, flying close to two Chinese naval destroyers, one north of the Philippines and another around 38 nautical miles off the eastern coast of Taiwan.
The aircraft is one of seven P-8 planes belonging to Patrol Squadron 10, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla., and currently on a six-month rotation in Japan.
Cmdr. Marc Hines, commanding officer of Patrol Squadron 10, said the missions contributed to upholding international norms, supporting U.S. partners and ensuring free commerce in international waters. He said China’s challenges to the existing order had to be countered.
“If it’s left unchecked, then what?” he said.
Corrections & Amplifications
Marc Hines is the commanding officer of Patrol Squadron 10. An earlier version of this article misspelled his first name as Mark. (Corrected on Feb. 24)