U S military slams Chinese flights over South China Sea but says they posed no threat reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
US protests to China in own backyard as Biden pivots to Asia Saturday, 30 January 2021 8:33 AM
[ Last Update: Saturday, 30 January 2021 9:31 AM ] Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Photo by Reuters)
The US military has protested to Chinese military activities in the South China Sea as leading policy outlet Politico says the new Biden government is reorienting foreign policy priorities to China and Asia from the Middle East.
The US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a statement on Friday that Chinese military flights in the South China Sea over the past week fit a pattern of destabilizing and aggressive behavior by Beijing.
The US military has said that Chinese military flights in the past week in the South China Sea “at no time” posed any threat to a US Navy aircraft carrier strike group in the region, but fit a pattern of destabilising and aggressive behaviour by Beijing.
“The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group closely monitored all People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Air Force (PLAAF) activity, and at no time did they pose a threat to US Navy ships, aircraft, or sailors,” the US military’s Pacific Command said in a statement.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chinese aircraft did not come within 250 nautical miles (463km) of the US Navy vessels.