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China Opposes US Spy Flights Off Chinese Coast, FM Spokesman
China has constantly opposed US spy flights off China's coast and will continue to lodge serious representations with the United States on the resumption of such flights, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said Tuesday.
Asked to comment on reports that the United States has resumed reconnaissance flights off the Chinese coast, Sun said that China's opposition to such spy flights is "consistent and clear."
He urged the US side to "draw a lesson (from the recent incident) and correct such wrong-doings."
Surveillance Flight Resumed According to reports, the US side resumed reconnaissance flights off China's coast Monday by an unarmed RC-135 military aircraft off northeastern China after the April 1 collision incident.
An unescorted US Air Force RC-135 took off from Kadena Air Force base in Japan on May 7 flew along the Chinese coast, staying in "international airspace," a source told ABCNEWS.
The Pentagon confirmed that the surveillance flight returned to the Kadena base without any contact with the Chinese. In the past, Chinese fighter jets have attempted to intercept US surveillance flights over the South China Sea.
US officials said the purpose of the flight was to establish a new baseline of intelligence on China. The RC-135 flies higher and faster than the EP-3 Aries II.
Monday's surveillance flight was the first since US reconnaissance missions were suspended after a tense diplomatic standoff instigated by an April 1 midair collision between a US Navy plane and a Chinese fighter jet. The 24-member crew of the Navy spy plane, who made an emergency and unallowed landing on Hainan Island, were held by the Chinese for 11 days.
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