US media reports: Chinese and US planes "near collision" over the East China Sea.
The Washington Free Beacon reported on September 22nd that a Chinese J-11 fighter jet recently cut across the flight path of a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the East China Sea, creating a very dangerous situation.
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| A Chinese J-11 fighter jet reportedly cut across the flight path of a US RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the East China Sea. (Source: airliners.net) |
The event happened a few weeks ago, but the information was kept secret.
According to the source, the incident occurred near the Senkaku Islands, which are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.
While flying over the area, the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was approached by a J-11 fighter jet, which flew directly in front of it and nearly collided with it.
This is the second time a dangerous situation has occurred between a Chinese fighter jet and a US reconnaissance aircraft.
The last time this situation occurred was in August 2014 in the airspace over the South China Sea.
The issue highlighted by the newspaper is that neither the Pentagon nor the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) have provided details about this recent "near-collision," but have also not denied the information.
However, according to the Washington Free Beacon, this incident was indirectly mentioned by Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of PACOM, when he testified before the US Senate Armed Forces Committee last week.
After assessing the 2014 incident involving a U.S. P8-Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft (which nearly collided with a Chinese aircraft) as "a very dangerous event," Harris said, "And most recently, we've seen it happen again," but did not elaborate.
According to Vietnam+
