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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Reconnaissance plane covers China coast
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A U.S. reconnaissance plane has flown south along China�s coast for the
first time since the April 1 aerial collision, while Chinese warplanes
shadowed a reconnaissance flight off the northern coast but kept their
distance.
"We did fly south a couple of days ago," one defense official said of
the RC-135 flight. The RC-135 is a militarized Boeing 707 airliner backed
with electronic eavesdropping equipment.
In a separate incident, a Chinese Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft repeatedly
flew over a U.S. surveillance ship operating in international waters, said
Pentagon officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The aerial shadowing off northern China occurred within the past two
weeks. Chinese F-6 jet fighters, versions of the Russian MiG-19, monitored an
EP-3E surveillance flight some 70 miles off China�s northern coast, Pentagon
officials told The Washington Times.
One official said the incident technically is not being viewed as a
Chinese "intercept" because of the distance. This official said the closest
the Chinese jet came to the EP-3E was some 60 miles away, apparently to avoid
a repeat of the April 1 collision.
"We call it a reaction," said one official.
A second official said the recent encounter between the F-6 and the
EP-3E involved a distance of 20 miles between the two aircraft. It is not
known if the Chinese jet was armed.
In past encounters, Chinese F-8 jets were armed with short-range
air-to-air missiles and cannon.
A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii declined to comment.
It was the first time Chinese jets had shadowed a EP-3E flight since the
April 1 collision.
The surveillance aircraft was operating out of Kadena Air Base in
Okinawa, Japan, and its route was limited to coastal areas of China north of
Taiwan, the officials said. Two F-6s followed the EP-3E as it made its
electronic eavesdropping run.
The longer-distance aerial shadowing was in marked contrast to what
officials termed "aggressive" and dangerous Chinese jet intercepts during the
past several months, culminating with the April 1 collision near Hainan
island.
During the April 1 incident, an F-8 jet flew within 20 feet of the EP-3E
and during one maneuver hit the U.S. aircraft�s propeller with its tail. The
pilot was killed after his F-8 broke apart. The U.S. aircraft was forced to
make an emergency landing at Hainan island, where the 24 crew members were
held for 12 days.
The damaged EP-3E is still on the ground and the United States and China
are negotiating for its release. China is prohibiting the United States from
repairing the aircraft and flying it off the South China Sea island. The
Pentagon insists the least expensive and most practical way to get the plane
back is to repair it and fly it to Guam.
Regarding the naval incident, officials said the U.S. ocean surveillance
ship USS Bowditch was harassed by a Chinese Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft that
buzzed the surveillance ship at least 10 times. The Y-8 is a four-engine
propeller aircraft based on the design of the Russian An-12 aircraft.
"We had an escort in the area," one official said.
A U.S. Navy Aegis-equipped guided missile ship was escorting the
Bowditch at the time of the harassment. The Bowditch was conducting
electronic surveillance similar to the activities of the EP-3E and RC-135
intelligence-gathering flights. The Pentagon insists such monitoring is
legal.
China�s military claims such naval surveillance is not permitted within
200 miles of China�s coast, an area Beijing is claiming as sovereign
territory. The United States only accepts the internationally recognized
12-mile nautical limit.
A Chinese research vessel that the Pentagon suspects is engaged in
counter-surveillance of the Bowditch has been following Navy ships in waters
near the Yellow Sea, the officials said.
The Bowditch�s encounter with the Y-8 aircraft is the second incident of
Chinese harassment.
In late March, shortly before the April 1 collision of the EP-3E and
F-8, the Bowditch was threatened by a Chinese warship in international waters
and forced to move out of a 200-mile economic exclusion zone that China is
claiming as its territory. During the April encounter, the Chinese warship
pointed the fire-control radar of its guns on the Bowditch and ordered it to
leave the area.
A Pentagon official said the U.S.-China standoff involving the Bowditch
was "still going on" yesterday.
The Beijing government is demanding an end of all U.S. military
surveillance of China since the April 1 collision.
The communist government has launched a major propaganda campaign
against the military surveillance. The state-run news media denounced the
surveillance activities as U.S. "hegemonism."
The United States has refused to end the surveillance of China,
defending the flights and other monitoring as part of a broad regional
security strategy to maintain security in the region and to support U.S.
allies.
The Bush administration is expected to announce in the next several
weeks its new military strategy, which will call for shifting the focus of
U.S. defense and international security efforts from Europe to Asia, based on
the rise of China.
China is building up both its conventional and strategic nuclear forces
as part of a long-term modernization program. Under development by Beijing
are two new road-mobile nuclear missiles, the DF-31 and DF-41, a new class of
ballistic missile submarines equipped with a submarine-launched version of
the DF-31 and a new class of attack submarines. Beijing�s conventional force
developments include the acquisition of Russian guided-missile destroyers,
four Kilo-class submarines, and advanced Su-27 and Su-30 fighter bombers.
China�s military also is said to be working secretly on advanced
high-technology weapons, including information warfare capabilities.
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without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational
purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
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