In this file photo from Dec. 24, 2014, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron refuels a U.S. Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft from the 82nd Intelligence Squadron near Okinawa, Japan. (Maeson Elleman/U.S. Air Force)
A Chinese jet performed an “unsafe” maneuver near an American RC-135 surveillance plane flying over the Yellow Sea on Sept. 15, a Pentagon spokesman said this week.
The Defense Department is reviewing a report from U.S. Pacific Command describing the “intercept” of the RC-135 over the Yellow Sea about 80 miles east of the Shandong Peninsula, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Tuesday.
The RC-135 pilot reported that the Chinese jet “passed in front of his nose in an unsafe fashion,” Cook said, adding that “right now, there’s no indication this was a near collision.”
Cook said the incident was “not similar” to an incident in August 2014 when an armed Chinese fighter jet passed three times beneath a Navy Poseidon P-8 surveillance jet over the South China Sea, at one point bringing the fighter’s wing within 20 feet of the P-8.
Cook did not offer specific details about how the two cases were not similar.
A spokesman with PACOM said Friday that no more information was available because the incident is still under investigation.
Tensions between U.S. and Chinese naval and air forces have risen this past year after China began earnestly working to expand tiny atolls in the Spratly Islands near the Philippines through sand dredging. It has built a number of airways on them and announced that the air space above the islands is restricted.
The U.S. has ignored that and continued to fly and sail through that area.
This latest incident, however, was far to the north in the sea between China and the Korean peninsula.
Disclosure of the incident comes at an awkward time for the Obama administration, which is hosting a visit this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a statement Tuesday criticizing both China and the administration.
“Yet another dangerous Chinese intercept of a U.S. aircraft last week shows that China feels emboldened to continue its pattern of aggressive behavior in the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement said. “That this flight came amid negotiations of rules for air-to-air encounters and just one week ahead of President Xi’s arrival in the United States raises further questions about China’s intentions and the Obama Administration’s response thus far.”
olson.wyatt@stripes.com Twitter: @WyattWOlson
