America

US fears repeat of run-in with Chinese fighter jet

... Excerpt

August 26, 2014

NAOYA YOSHINO, Nikkei staff writer

WASHINGTON -- The time it took the U.S. government to reveal a close encounter between warplanes off the coast of China suggests that tensions between the two powers have reached new heights.

 

The incident over the South China Sea occurred last Tuesday, about 217km east of the Chinese island of Hainan. A Chinese fighter jet came within 6 meters of an American P-8 Poseidon patrol plane, the Defense Department said Friday.

 

     It flew by several times, even performing an acrobatic barrel roll to "make a point of showing its weapons," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. In terms of intimidation, a pass at that distance almost equals an actual collision, according to an active military pilot.

 

     Chinese and American warplanes have had run-ins before, albeit not as close as last week's. They have become frequent since the spring, when the U.S. increased surveillance over the South China Sea as China erected an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam. America deployed P-8s to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa last December in response to China's declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea.

 

     Last week's incident was reported immediately to the Pentagon. From there, it became subject to an unwritten rule in the Obama administration: all China-related matters require White House approval.

 

     In past such encounters, the administration protested to the Chinese through diplomatic channels but held off on going public with the details, judging that the jets were not acting on orders from China's political leadership. Better to inform Beijing that some of its fighter pilots were acting recklessly and let it enforce discipline, the White House reasoned.

 

     But when the White House learned how close a shave the U.S. pilot experienced in the latest incident, opinion shifted. Still, the administration waited until the third day after the encounter to issue a statement. For starters, the incident was soon eclipsed by the on-camera execution of an American journalist by Islamic State, an extremist group. And Washington was waiting for Beijing to make the first move. Neither President Barack Obama nor Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel mentioned a Chinese jet in news conferences over the next two days.

 

     As with similar incidents in the past, the White House lacked proof of direct political involvement. But Beijing's insistence that the fighter pilot had maintained an appropriate distance worried the Obama administration, which feared that not going public with the story would invite further Chinese provocations.

 

     Although Beijing has instructed the military to deal firmly with U.S. warplanes, it cannot know everything that transpires on the front lines. Japanese Air Self-Defense Force planes have had similar encounters with Chinese jets over the East China Sea. Unless the U.S. and China get serious about avoiding such close calls, the next one could end in tragedy.