CLOAK AND DAGGER AFFAIR IN MID-AIR: REPORT BARES ALLEGED U.S. ESPIONAGE FLIGHTS VS. CHINA
The United States Air Force ( USAF) had allegedly “disguised” its RC- 135S plane either as a Malaysian or a Philippine registered aircraft, while reportedly engaged in espionage activities against China, the South China Morning Post reported, quoting the Chinese foreign ministry.
“A US Air Force RC- 135S reconnaissance aircraft used a hex code allocated to a Philippine aircraft as it flew over the Yellow Sea. The RC- 135 aircraft switched its identification code during a reconnaissance mission,” the South China Sea Probing Initiative ( SCSPI) said.
Beijing said US surveillance planes had spied on China at least 100 times this year, describing it as a “serious security threat.”
The Asian superpower said the US Air Force plane “impersonate the transponder code of civilian aircraft from other countries,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said earlier this week.
When it was over the Yellow Sea, the RC- 135S reconnaissance aircraft used a hex code allocated to a Philippine aircraft but reverted back to its original number after completing its mission, the SCSPI said.
Last week, the SCSPI said American RC- 135S electronically disguised themselves as Malaysian civilian aircraft while flying close to Chinese airspace. The switch was also reported by Popular Mechanics magazine and several independent observers.
“We urge the US to immediately stop such dangerous provocations to avoid accidents from happening in the sea and air,” Wang said.
One of the best known incidents of mis identification occurred in 1983 when Korean Airlines B747, flight KE 007, was shot down by the Soviet Union air force, killing all 269 on- board, including scores of Filipinos.
The Philippines sent then Department of Tourism Secretary Jose Aspiras to South Korea to condole and assist the family of the victims.
From Seoul, Aspiras’s entourage took a plane to Hokkaido Island, Japan, and accompanied the grieving Filipino families aboard a boat that traveled one hour from the tip of Hokkaido to reach the crash site.
The Filipinos threw chrysanthemum flowers in the ocean near the Russian controlled Sakhalin Island as a gesture of farewell.
According to the historical accounts, the Soviet Union initially denied knowledge of the incident but later admitted shooting down the aircraft, claiming that it was on a spy mission.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union said the US deliberately provoked the Soviet Union’s military preparedness, or perhaps even to provoke a war.
The Soviet armed forces released evidence gathered from a retrieved flight recorder 10 years later after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The incident was one of the most dramatic episodes of the Cold War era and resulted in an escalation of anti- Soviet sentiment, particularly in the United States.
Military experts said although the US spy planes were an annoyance for China, they always stay outside its territorial airspace of 12 nautical miles and technically within international airspace and could not be shot down by the Chinese.
On the other hand, the People’s Liberation Army seems able to keeping count of the flights, “which means they can see through the disguise.”
The SCSPI reported that from June 24, it has recorded four US surveillance aircraft operating near the strategic Bashi Channel.
According to the SCSPI, which monitors ac tivit y in the S outh China S ea, between September 8 and 10, US spy planes disguised as Malaysian aircraft flew over the disputed Paracel Islands, as well as the volatile Taiwan Strait and the Yellow Sea near the Chinese coast, basing its conclusions on open source aviation responder records.
“This undoubtedly added up to great risk and uncertainty to international flight safety, which could lead to misjudgment [ by ground air defense systems] and probably bring danger to civilian aircraft especially those being impersonated,” the think tank said in its report.