Beijing blames US ‘provocation’ for South China Sea fighter jet incident

SpaceWar.com reports: “Beijing blamed US ‘provocation’ Wednesday for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of an American surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.

The incident comes at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan, which China regards as its territory, and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States this year.

‘The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said when asked about the latest incident.

‘This kind of provocative, dangerous activity is the cause of the security issues on the seas,’ Mao said, calling on Washington to ‘immediately stop this form of dangerous provocation’.

‘China will continue to take all necessary steps to resolutely protect its own sovereignty and security,’ she said.

The US military said on Tuesday a Chinese fighter pilot had performed an ‘unnecessarily aggressive maneuver’ near an American surveillance aircraft operating over the South China Sea last week…”

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