The nation's top general has ordered staff to gather info about every interaction between the U.S. military and the Chinese military over the past 5 years, 3 defense officials say.
military over the past five years to review the growing number of interactions with the Chinese military in the South China Sea and beyond, say three defense officials.
Last month Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at an Asian security conference that the U.S. has “seen an alarming increase in the number of unsafe aerial intercepts and confrontations at sea by PLA aircraft and vessels.” On July 13 the U.S. destroyer USS Benfold carried out a FONOP in the South China Sea, sailing close to the disputed but Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands. The Chinese military trailed the Benfold and ordered the ship to leave the area. A Chinese military statement accused the U.S. of illegally entering China's territorial waters and violating Chinese sovereignty.
U.S. FONOPs began during the Obama administration and increased during the Trump years, and now they have become routine, according to Harrison Pretat, an expert on maritime disputes in the Asia-Pacific region and associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. After an interaction, a U.S. pilot or sailor can report the incident as safe or unsafe and professional or unprofessional. When pilots or ships operate too close, make erratic or sudden moves, or quickly cut in front of a U.S. ship or aircraft, the U.S. can report the incident as unsafe or unprofessional. But the designation is somewhat subjective and generally relies on the pilots and sailors to make a judgment call.
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