China has issued a statement to US officials complaining about a US spy plane overflight into a Chinese-established no-fly zone, the latest in a series of incidents mounting tensions between the two nations.
The US spy plane, a U-2, was accused of going into a no-fly zone set up during Chinese military operations, and Chinese officials suggest that the plane was spying on the exercises, and hindered exercises with its unwelcome presence.
China’s Defense Ministry warned the presence of a US plane risked a “misunderstanding” that could’ve caused an incident. The US has not responded to what they were doing in the area.
Nor are they likely to. US spy planes have been in multiple incidents with Russia and China in recent months, and have not commented on what they thought they were doing in any of them. All of this is raising tension in both areas, and the risks that an interception could escalate into a more serious encounter.
since when has US recognized airspace of other nations?
US built U2 and other spyplanes whose altitude capabilites, ( until recent past), exceeded any nations defense systems from downing them.
Thousands of US rendition flights were aboard rented Canadian and US private/corporate planes and turned off locator and tracking beacons, transponders, going as far as changing planes ID numbers. while flyinng or landing at NATO, mainly North African, Central Asian. And middle eastern nations.
Since cold war era US and Russian pilots played cat and mouse games with Russian aircraft and each often wandered into others so called sovereign airspaces.
Every provocation risks a serious escalation, Washington is playing a fools game.