The top American naval commander in Asia criticized what he said were unsafe and provocative actions by Chinese warplanes, reiterating U.S. complaints about behavior that officials argue could prompt a clash.
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Japan-based 7th Fleet, expressed concern Tuesday about increasingly assertive efforts by the People’s Liberation Army to intercept U.S. and allied military aircraft in the skies over the Pacific. He cited the firing of flares near planes and shortening the distance between aircraft as they pass as risky actions.
“There has been an increase in what we would consider unsafe, unprofessional or nonstandard intercepts, and it’s not just United States aircraft, it’s also our allies and partners aircraft,” Thomas told reporters in Singapore, where the U.S. was taking part in a regional training exercise. “It’s the provocative nature of the intercepts that’s got our attention.”
