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US military flew 1,200 flights near Chinese waters last year: former PLA top brass

Reconnaissance last year more intensive than against Soviet Union during the cold war, says former deputy commander of PLA Air Force

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Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea in this file still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the US Navy on May 21, 2015. Photo: Reuters

The US military carried out 1,200 reconnaissance flights over waters close to China last year amid the disputes in the South China Sea, a former deputy commander of the PLA Air Force said on Sunday.

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But a former US naval officer questioned the total, saying it was "outrageous".

Chen Xiaogong, now a member of the foreign affairs committee of the National People's Congress, told a foreign relations forum in Beijing that US surveillance against China in waters along the East China and South China seas had become an "outstanding issue".

"Such surveillance is more intensive than that against the former Soviet Union during the cold war," Chen said, adding that the US made only 260 such flights in 2009.

"Last year, there were more than 300 flights within 50km from China's [maritime borders]. And the flight closest to Chinese territory was just 8km [away]."

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Tensions flared in May amid reports that the Chinese navy had warned a US spy plane to leave the airspace over artificial islands China was building in the South China Sea.

Gary Roughead, a former US chief of naval operations, said on the sidelines of the forum that the number cited by Chen was "extraordinarily high".

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