China accuses US of ‘slander, hype’ after aircraft clash

Defence ministry says US distorted info following a confrontation between a Chinese language jet and a US aircraft over the South China Sea.

China’s defence ministry has accused the US of violating worldwide legislation and of “slander and hype” following a confrontation between a Chinese language fighter jet and an American reconnaissance aircraft over the contested waters of the South China Sea.

The assertion late on Saturday got here days after the US army claimed {that a} Chinese language J-11 fighter jet had come inside 6 metres (20 ft) of a US RC-135 plane on December 21, forcing the latter to take evasive manoeuvres to keep away from a collision.

However Tian Julin, a spokesperson for China’s defence ministry, stated the US Indo-Pacific Command had distorted info in regards to the incident and that it was the US plane that had engaged in “harmful maneuvers” towards the Chinese language jet.

Tian stated the US plane was conducting intentional close-in reconnaissance on China’s southern shoreline when the Folks’s Liberation Military despatched fighter jets to trace and monitor the aircraft.

Regardless of a number of warnings from the Chinese language facet, the US plane abruptly altered its flight stance in a “harmful method motion, which critically compromised the flight security of the Chinese language army plane,” he stated.

The defence ministry additionally launched a video of the incident, which it stated confirmed the US plane manoeuvring in the direction of the Chinese language jet.

“America intentionally misleads public opinion … in an try and confuse the worldwide viewers,” Tian stated.

“We solemnly request the US facet to restrain the actions of frontline naval and air forces, strictly abide by associated worldwide legal guidelines and agreements, and stop accidents within the sea and the air.”

China claims virtually the whole South China Sea as its sovereign territory, however components of it are contested by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Trillions of {dollars} in commerce move yearly by way of the waterway, which additionally accommodates wealthy fishing grounds and fuel fields.

US army planes and ships routinely perform surveillance operations and journey by way of the area, strikes that China says should not good for peace.

Relations between the US and China have been tense, with friction rising between the world’s two largest economies over a spread of points, together with Beijing’s human rights file and its claims over the self-ruled island of Taiwan.