Chinese jets flew too fast, too close — US

Two Chinese fighter jets flew too fast and too close to a US military aircraft patrolling the East China Sea, prompting a formal protest to the Chinese government, the US Air Force said yesterday.

The incident on Wednesday involved a US WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft and two Chinese SU-30 jets that both flew in an “unprofessional” and dangerously close way, according to a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Forces, Lt. Col. Lori Hodge.

The US has complained to China through diplomatic and military channels, she said in a statement. The “speeds and proximity” of the two Chinese planes, coupled with the “maneuvers” of one of the pilots, raised the concerns, she said.

The WC-135, a modified Boeing C-135, is designed to detect radioactive debris after the detonation of a nuclear device and is informally known as a “sniffer”. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not reply to request for comment.

The US newspaper Stars and Stripes reported last month that a WC-135 had been deployed to the US military base at Okinawa, Japan, in preparation for a possible sixth nuclear test by North Korea. Such a test has not taken place, although North Korea on Sunday launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile in a test that was described as successful by US missile experts.

The US protest over the military manoeuvre by the Chinese jets on Wednesday appeared to be the first since President Donald Trump took office.

The maneuvers by the Chinese jets near the US aircraft may have been prompted by concerns that the US was spying on Chinese military hardware and bases inside China, said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing.