U.S. releases photos, videos showing rise in ‘risky’ Chinese air intercepts
The U.S. Department of Defense on Tuesday released declassified photos and videos showing what it called a series of “coercive and risky” intercepts of American military aircraft by Chinese jets over the past two years, which officials say have spiked dramatically.
The Pentagon’s disclosures came a day after a Chinese military jet intercepted a Canadian Armed Forces Aurora aircraft in what the CAF called an “aggressive manner” in international airspace off China’s coast.
Global News was on board the Canadian military aircraft reporting on the mission on Monday, which is part of Operation NEON, Canada’s contribution to helping enforce sanctions against North Korea, when the aggressive intercepts took place over international airspace.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said more than 180 intercepts by Chinese aircraft of U.S. military planes have occurred over the past two years — exceeding the number from the decade before.
“When you take into account cases of coercive and risky PLA intercepts against other states, the number increases to nearly 300 cases against U.S., ally and partner aircraft over the last two years,” Ratner said, using the acronym for China’s People’s Liberation Army.
The Pentagon said the activities of the Chinese pilots included “reckless maneuvers, close approaches at high speeds in the air, releasing objects and projectiles like flares, and other dangerous behaviour.”
“The bottom line is that in many cases, this type of operational behaviour can cause active and dangerous accidents” and can inadvertently lead to conflict, Ratner told reporters.
The photos and videos released Tuesday date back to January
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