China defends practice of
intercepting U.S. reconnaissance flights
From
Stripes and wire reports
BEIJING
— China on Thursday defended its policy of having fighter planes intercept U.S.
surveillance flights near its coast, saying it had to protect national security.
Washington
resumed such flights Monday after a one-month hiatus following the April 1 collision
between a U.S. EP-3E surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China
Sea.
Such
flights "constitute a grave threat to China’s security," said Foreign
Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi.
Chinese
jets didn’t challenge the flight Monday by an U.S. Air Force RC-135 off China’s
northeastern coast, but Sun said interceptions are "necessary and very
reasonable" and in line with international practice.
He urged
the United States to "learn from the past" to avoid further incidents.
Earlier,
the Pentagon has suggested that the United States may use fighters to escort the
reconnaissance planes on their missions.
Officials
at Kadena Air Base, from where the reconnaissance planes are departing, would not comment
on the possibility of fighter escorts.
As a matter
of policy, "our guidance from higher headquarters is we don’t discuss specifics
of surveillance or reconnaissance flights," Kadena public affairs officials said
Friday. "While we are aware of the media coverage reporting that flights have
resumed, it remains our policy not to discuss any details of reconnaissance or
surveillance flights, to confirming whether they have taken place."
Kadena
officials referred further queries to the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, or to the
Pentagon.
The Chinese
fighter pilot involved in the April 1 collision is missing and presumed dead. The badly
damaged U.S. plane is at a Chinese air base on Hainan island in the South China Sea, where
it made an emergency landing.
Sun
repeated China’s insistence that Washington won’t be allowed to fly the plane
home, though he said that doesn’t mean it won’t be returned.
"Due
to the nature of the plane, it will not be allowed to fly back from Hainan to the United
States," he said. "The specific means of transporting the plane will be talked
about by the sides."
Sun did not
elaborate on why China wouldn’t let the United States fly out the plane, which
American technicians say could be airworthy after repairs.
Deputy
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on Wednesday said flying out the plane would "further
hurt the dignity and sentiments of the Chinese people" and prompt "strong
indignation and opposition from the Chinese people."
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