The Pentagon revealed that it has recorded more "coercive and risky" behavior from Chinese aircraft pilots against US jets in the last two years over the East and South China seas compared to the previous decade.
The US agency revealed various images and videos before a soon-to-be-issued annual report on China's military power. The report would also include details on its potential security threats to America's partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
Chinese Aircraft Interceptions
For years, the Pentagon has tried to posture itself to be prepared for any potential conflict with China over Taiwan. This comes even as it now supports allies in two different conflicts, Ukraine against Russia and Israel against Hamas militants.
The head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Acquilino, held a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday. He said that despite the US deploying carrier strike groups and amphibious ships to support its Middle East ally and the nearly two-year invasion of Ukraine, it still has what it needs to deter China's potential aggression, as per Yahoo News.
Acuiqilino said that his command has not had one piece of equipment or force structure depart, referring to ships, aircraft, and military units. He added that the agency has taken several steps to strengthen its commitment to the region and its deterrence.
Pentagon officials said that the Chinese aircraft were flying risky and aggressively in nature but stopped short of calling the deployments unsafe. This specific term is only used in the most egregious cases.
However, officials still noted that it was important to release footage of the aircraft and call out the behavior because it was part of a larger trend of regional intimidation by China that could result in conflict.
Dangerous and Risky Pilot Behavior
The assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Ely Ratner, said that the agency has seen over 180 incidents of Chinese aircraft interceptions of US jets since the fall of 2021. According to CNN, the images that the Pentagon released date back to January 2022 and show Chinese fighter jets getting dangerously close to American aircraft in international airspace.
Officials said that the behavior of Chinese aircraft was because they were trying to intimidate American aircraft. The Pentagon noted that in some instances, Beijing's fighter jets came as close as 20 feet to US jets.
Ratner added that it was a centralized and concerted campaign to perform such risky behaviors to coerce lawful US operational activity change. One example of such an interception occurred on Aug. 10.
At the time, a Chinese fighter jet closed in on an American aircraft, which was forced to perform "defense procedures" to prevent collision with the other plane. The former came as close as 50 feet to the American fighter jet and performed a barrel roll under it.
The development comes amid worsening tensions between China and the United States, particularly as communication between the two militaries has frozen. According to Politico, this started after the American military downed a Chinese spy balloon in February.
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