“We think it shows that China continues to be willing to closely align themselves with Russia, including through military cooperation,” a senior Biden administration declared.
officials condemned the joint flight, saying it demonstrated close Sino-Russian cooperation despite the brutality of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Both Japan and South Korea scrambled their jet fighters when the Chinese and Russian aircraft approached (but did not enter) their airspace. Russia’s defense ministry confirmed the joint patrol, which it said lasted 13 hours over the Japanese and East China seas and involved Russian Tu-95 and Chinese H-6 strategic bombers. May 24, 2022: Two Chinese and four Russian warplanes participated in a joint air exercise over the East China Sea while President Biden was in Tokyo at the end of a four-day visit to Asia aimed at bolstering U.S. In some instances, the RCAF aircrew felt sufficiently at risk that they had to quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft.” Source: Govt.
During the intercepts, “PLAAF aircraft did not adhere to international air safety norms…. “Op NEON… conduct surveillance operations to identify suspected maritime sanctions evasion activities, in particular ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other commodities banned by the United Nations Security Council Resolutions,” the CAF report indicated. Source: Reuters, June 7, 2022Īpril 26-May 26, 2022: The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) reported on June 1 that a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft was intercepted on several occasions by combat aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) while conducting “Op NEON” surveillance operations in pursuance of UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea for illicit arms activities. Tan Kefei, spokesman at the Chinese defence ministry, said the Australian military flights seriously threatened China's sovereignty and security and that the countermeasures taken by the Chinese military were reasonable and lawful. In response, China said on June 7 that its military had identified an Australian military aircraft and warned it to leave China’s airspace. Quite obviously, this is very dangerous.” He said the crew of the P-8 responded professionally and returned the aircraft to its base. “At that moment, it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminum, some of which were ingested into the engine of the P-8 aircraft. “The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8…at very close distance,” he told reporters in Melbourne. Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the J-16 aircraft flew very close to the side of the Australian plane, where it released flares. Because some of these events may not be adequately reported, we encourage visitors to this site to send us notices of incidents we have missed (write to 26, 2022: The Australian Ministry of Defense reported on June 5 that one of its aircraft, a RAAF P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, was intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter during maritime surveillance activity in international airspace in the South China Sea region. We derive this tally from international news sources and the military press. Provided below is our tally of such incidents, beginning with January 1, 2021. The Committee maintains an ongoing record of these activities, with the most recent posted at the top of the list. When this occurs, there is always the risk of a collision or unintended shooting incident, leading to further military action and full-scale conflict. It is not unusual, moreover, for ships and planes of one side to monitor the operations of the other, and even, on occasion, to interfere with them. While officials on both sides claim that their forces are merely conducting military drills that pose no threat to their rival, these mock combat operations in the vicinity of opposing forces, they send an unmistakable signal of hostile intent. naval exercises in the South China Sea, often skirting Chinese-claimed and -occupied islands, as well as Chinese air and sea maneuvers in areas around Taiwan. These include, for example, large-scale U.S. Air & Ship Deployments by China & the United States in Contested Air & Sea SpaceĪlmost every day, China and/or the United States deploy their ships and warplanes in a menacing (“muscle-flexing”) fashion to demonstrate resolve and to throw the other side off balance.