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The trip of the US spy plane approaching China on December 10 – Photo: SCSPI
China had a diplomatic retaliation yesterday for the US punishment of 14 officials in Beijing by canceling visa-free status for US diplomats visiting Hong Kong and Macau.
The Sputnik news agency and the Newsweek newspaper citing the South China Sea Strategic Situation Initiative (SCSPI) said the US aircraft passed through China’s air defense detection zone in the East China Sea. The plane then turned 51 nautical miles from China’s Fujian province and 70 nautical miles from Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the UPI news agency cited information from the aviation tracking organization No Callsign in South Korea that the Lockheed departed from Osan airbase in South Korea and headed for Taiwan on the morning of December 10. , Phuong time. Five hours later, it was determined that the plane had returned to the Yellow Sea area in the western part of the Korean Peninsula.
According to SCSPI, this is the closest reconnaissance flight to the Taiwan Strait made by a US aircraft.
Last month, he said the United States had nearly doubled its number of reconnaissance flights near China since 2009, with an average of 1,500 flights a year in the South China Sea. He also said Washington was disguising the spy plane as a civilian plane.
The incident took place in the context of tense relations between the United States and China on many fronts. The United States announced financial sanctions and travel bans on December 7 with 14 officials of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National Assembly for their activities related to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including their role in firing opposition MPs from Hong Kong last month.
In response, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on December 10 that it would withdraw visa-free status for US diplomatic passport holders to Hong Kong, Macao, and would punish some officials and members. organizations in the United States related to Hong Kong affairs.
