NEW DELHI: The Chinese army on Thursday claimed that it has followed and monitored a US Navy P-8A aircraft’s transit in the Taiwan Strait, reported news agency Reuters.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement that it “remains on high alert at all times to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and regional peace and stability.”
According to China Daily, senior colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, said a P-8A anti-submarine patrol plane transited the Strait, and the US publicly hyped the flight.
“The PLA sent warplanes to monitor the P-8A during the entire transit and handled the situation in accordance with the law”, Shi added.
The statement by Beijing comes days after US President Joe Biden said that he could potentially meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The possible face-to-face meeting between the world’s two biggest economic powers is expected to be held during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, scheduled in San Francisco from November 11 to 17. Biden and Xi have not spoken since their meeting last November on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The meeting between US and China, if at all happens, is expected to play a key role in dialling down the tension between Washington and Beijing as the relationship between the two has hit an all-time low — primarily due to the contrary stands on the South China Sea and Taiwan.
Last year in August, Beijing snapped its cross-military communications with Washington after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that had left China fuming. The cross-military communication was the channel between the two nations to de-escalate the tension between them.
Later, the relations soared further this year when a Chinese balloon was spotted on US territory, which was ultimately shot down by a fighter jet. The Biden administration called it a “sophisticated surveillance balloon”.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement that it “remains on high alert at all times to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and regional peace and stability.”
According to China Daily, senior colonel Shi Yi, spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, said a P-8A anti-submarine patrol plane transited the Strait, and the US publicly hyped the flight.
“The PLA sent warplanes to monitor the P-8A during the entire transit and handled the situation in accordance with the law”, Shi added.
The statement by Beijing comes days after US President Joe Biden said that he could potentially meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The possible face-to-face meeting between the world’s two biggest economic powers is expected to be held during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, scheduled in San Francisco from November 11 to 17. Biden and Xi have not spoken since their meeting last November on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
The meeting between US and China, if at all happens, is expected to play a key role in dialling down the tension between Washington and Beijing as the relationship between the two has hit an all-time low — primarily due to the contrary stands on the South China Sea and Taiwan.
Last year in August, Beijing snapped its cross-military communications with Washington after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that had left China fuming. The cross-military communication was the channel between the two nations to de-escalate the tension between them.
Later, the relations soared further this year when a Chinese balloon was spotted on US territory, which was ultimately shot down by a fighter jet. The Biden administration called it a “sophisticated surveillance balloon”.
