The Guardian-US accuses China of pattern of dangerous air force manoeuvres against military planes
October 18, 2023 3 min 532 words
这则报道揭示了中美两国之间不断升级的紧张局势，尤其是在东南海域的空中军事冲突。美国指责中国进行一系列危险和挑衅性的军事飞行行动，可能引发意外冲突。事实上，从2021年秋天以来，已经发生了180多起类似事件，这是一个令人担忧的趋势。 这种行为引发了美国的忧虑，因为它可能导致事故，而严重的事故则可能引发意外冲突。这不仅对美国有所威胁，还对美国的盟友构成了潜在风险。报道中还指出，这种行为似乎是中国政府有意采取的策略，试图迫使美国改变其合法的军事行动方式。 此外，这一问题还需要在国际上得到关注，因为中美之间的紧张关系已经达到多年来的最低点，涉及贸易、人权、台湾和南海等多个领域的争端。这种军事紧张局势可能对国际和地区和平稳定产生严重影响。 需要强调的是，通过对话和外交渠道解决这种紧张局势至关重要，以避免不必要的冲突和危险事件的发生。这是一个复杂的问题，需要各方冷静对待，以确保和平解决争端是首要任务。
The US has accused China of orchestrating a “concerted” campaign of dangerous and provocative air force manoeuvres against US military planes in international airspace, warning it could spark an inadvertent conflict between them.
The Pentagon said aggressive tactics by Chinese aircraft had threatened US planes flying over the East and South China Sea regions, tallying more than 180 such incidents since autumn 2021.
“That’s nearly 200 cases where (Chinese) operators have … discharged chaff or shot off flares or approached too rapidly or close to US aircraft,” said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
“More in the past two years than in the decade before that,” he added.
US-China relations are at their lowest point in years, with tension over a range of issues including trade, human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea.
“This type of operational behaviour can cause accidents, and dangerous accidents can lead to inadvertent conflict,” Ratner said, adding that the incident count, tallied since the autumn of 2021, increases to nearly 300 when US allies are included.
Ratner alleged there was an intentional campaign by Beijing “to perform these risky behaviours in order to coerce a change in lawful US operational activity”.
In one instance, Ratner said, a Chinese fighter plane “approached our asset at a speed of hundreds of miles per hour, clearly armed and closing to just 30 feet away”, and stayed there for more than 15 minutes.
Tuesday’s news conference came after previous warnings from the White House over the summer that Chinese military aggressiveness at sea and in the air was leading to near collisions, and could soon lead to casualties.
“It won’t be long before somebody gets hurt,” national security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in June.
The US warning on Tuesday came as Canada separately accused Beijing’s fighter jets of a “reckless” intercept of a Canadian maritime patrol aircraft. Chinese planes shadowed the Aurora aircraft – on a mission to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea – over several hours according to a Canadian television crew on the flight.
One came within five metres of the Canadian plane, in a move Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair called “unprofessional”.
On Tuesday Beijing hit back, accusing the plane of having “illegally intruded into the airspace” of Chiwei island, which lies in the Japan-administered Senkakus claimed by China.
“The Canadian military aircraft travelled thousands of miles to make trouble and provocation at China’s doorstep,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “The Chinese side dealt with it according to law and regulations.”
Relations between Canada and China hit new lows this year following accusations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and the attempted intimidation of MPs, leading to the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat in May.