Mid-air 'near miss' highlights strategic divide between US and China in Asia
A close encounter between US and Chinese military aircraft highlights the divide between the two countries' ambitions in the region
The encounter between a People's Liberation Army fighter jet and a US Navy surveillance aircraft off China's southern coast last week underlined mutual suspicion between China and the United States about strategic objectives in Asia, analysts said.
Washington and Beijing gave contrasting accounts over the weekend of the encounter on Wednesday between a US Navy P-8 surveillance plane and a Chinese J-11 jet over the South China Sea near Hainan . The Pentagon said the Chinese jet made several close passes by the Navy P-8 Poseidon plane, coming within nine metres of it at one point. China's defence ministry rejected that depiction as "totally untenable", saying its pilot was professional and kept a safe distance.
A Chinese navy officer said the US plane was probably tracking Chinese nuclear submarines, which were believed to be taking part in a military drill.
Beijing has complained that frequent US military surveillance of China's coast is a major barrier to a better bilateral military relationship. But the US insists it has the right under international law to carry out the missions.
The tension between the two countries persists despite President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama agreeing at a summit last year to forge a new kind of relationship between the two countries.
