US and Chinese fighter jets briefly faced off above waters near the Korean Peninsula this week, Yonhap News agency reported, marking a rare confrontation in that area between the two superpowers.
About 10 US fighter jets on Wednesday departed an airbase in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, for drills above international waters off South Korea’s western coast, the news outlet cited unidentified military sources as saying.
While the US planes did not enter China’s air defense identification zone, Beijing scrambled planes as they neared that region, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army organized naval and air forces to monitor and effectively respond to the activities throughout the process, in accordance with laws and regulations,” the Chinese state-backed Global Times said yesterday, citing sources it did not name.
US Forces Korea, which oversees about 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, did not immediately provide a comment. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to a request for comment made outside working hours, while the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said it could not confirm US military operations.
“US Forces Korea is maintaining a strong combined defense posture with our military,” the South Korean defense ministry said.
South Korea’s military was not involved in the latest training or aware of the flight details in advance, Yonhap reported.
It is unusual for US fighter jets stationed in South Korea to conduct training without Seoul so close to China’s air defense identification zone, the report added.
China has stepped up military aggression in the Indo-Pacific region, where Beijing has territorial disputes in the South China Sea and over Taiwan.
Tensions have flared in recent months between China and Japan, another key US ally in Asia, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested Tokyo could be legally justified to deploy its military in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
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