China’s unsafe interceptions of US military aircraft have dropped off, defense officials say
By Oren Liebermann, CNN
Published 7:14 PM EST, Tue January 2, 2024
Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs
CNN
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China’s unsafe interceptions of US military aircraft have dropped off amid signs relations with Beijing are improving, two US defense officials told CNN.
There had been a spike in what the US deemed dangerous incidents in October and the Pentagon publicly condemned China’s behavior. But in a sign military tensions could be easing, the officials told CNN that there have not been major incidents since.
The last interception occurred on October 24, the officials said, when a Chinese fighter jet came within 10 feet of a US B-52 bomber flying over the South China Sea. US Indo-Pacific Command said the Chinese pilot flew in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner” while closing on the larger US aircraft with “uncontrolled excessive speed.”
The Defense Department had warned only days earlier that Chinese “coercive and risky” behavior was on the rise. According to the Pentagon, there were more than 180 incidents of such behavior over the previous two years, which was more than the entire previous decade.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/02/politics/china-us-unsafe-interactions-fall-off/index.html
