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At least 60 US warplanes conducted close-up reconnaissance flights near China in September, and the United States may be preparing for future long-haul missions in the South China Sea, according to a think tank in Beijing.
Among the 60 registered warplanes, 41 flew over the disputed South China Sea, six over the East China Sea and, further north, 13 over the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Sea Strategic Situation Research Initiative said in a statement. South China (SCSPI) backed by the Chinese government. report released Monday.
The report said that refueling activities had shown a rebound last month, possibly suggesting that the United States was preparing for future long-range attacks on targets in the South China Sea.
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He said that several refueling planes sent to add fuel to surveillance planes over the South China Sea had departed from the US military base on its western Pacific island territory of Guam.
“It is unusual for the US to send fuel tankers from Guam [instead of from Kadena airbase in Japan] because such operations are wasteful and inefficient, “says the report. “These operations are more likely to be preparing for future long-distance refueling in extreme conditions, and therefore deserve great attention.
“This showed that the South China Sea region remains the main focus of the United States, but what is equally remarkable is that activities in the Yellow Sea region had a marked increase compared to sporadic activities of two months ago. “the report said.
Combat aircraft usually perform two types of reconnaissance flights: routine and specific. The former are more predictable, given their established pattern of flat type, frequency, and region.
Of the specific reconnaissance flights, 13 planes flew to the Yellow Sea and three to the East China Sea while the Chinese military conducted drills, according to the report.
The total number of flights was roughly the same as in July and August, according to the report, adding that the actual figures may have been higher because some warplanes disguised themselves as civilian jets or did not turn on transponders.
The report highlighted the danger of such covert espionage activities, with six US aircraft spying on Chinese military activities while using bogus civil aircraft codes.
In late September, a U.S. Air Force plane changed its aircraft identification code while flying over the Yellow Sea, making it look like a Filipino plane, before reverting to its original number after completing its mission, he said. the SCSPI.
Beijing said in August that flying in disguise was putting civilian planes at risk. In 1983, the Soviet Air Force shot down a Korean Airlines airliner in its airspace, killing all 269 on board, after mistakenly identifying it as an intruding American spy plane.
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Ben Ho, a research associate at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the use of the Guam base gave the United States military contingency options.
“The US deployment of tankers from Guam instead of Okinawa hints at the much talked about contingency, where bases on the Japanese island are destroyed by Chinese missiles during the initial stages of a Sino-US conflict,” Ho said.
“[It] It also shows that Washington is guarding against the possibility of Japan rejecting US forces. [being] parked on its ground to be deployed against China. Under these two circumstances, the United States has no choice but to return to Guam. “
But Ho added: “While there is much talk about the dangers posed by unsafe encounters between US and Chinese forces in the air or even at sea, the potential for escalation in such situations is low.”
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst specializing in Chinese security at the Australian Institute for Strategic Policy in Canberra, said the United States needed to step up its presence to deter China from engaging in regional aggression, including in the South China Sea.
“My biggest concern is that China will seek to exploit any internal unrest or political distraction in the United States after the US presidential election, to act aggressively against Taiwan or in the South China Sea,” Davis said.
“The United States has to deter such an act, and these kinds of training missions are part of that: the forward presence and the resolution are communicated to Beijing.”
This article The United States sent 60 spy planes near China in September – Beijing think tank first appeared in South China Morning Post
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