China tells United States to cease reconnaissance flights near its borders

The government of China has told the United States that it should reduce or stop surveillance flights altogether over territory China claims, if the United States seeks to repair its relationship with China.

Reuters said the warning to the United States was made by Chinese Defense Department spokesperson Yang Yujun.

The remarks were spurred by a diplomatic protest the United States recently filed in China. That protest concerned the actions of a Chinese fighter jet pilot that intercepted a U.S. spy plane as it operated near the island of Hainan in the South China Sea.

The United States claims that the pilot came within 33 feet of the U.S. plane. The Chinese jet also carried out a series of daring and dangerous acrobatic maneuvers around the spy plane, even barrel rolling over the top. China has denied that its pilot acted inappropriately.

The incident occurred in international waters. The U.S. aircraft was a P-8 Poseidon. In addition to reconnaissance missions, it can also be retrofitted for anti-submarine operations.

Reuters says that China also reframed the debate over the incident. China said the issue was not how close Chinese aircraft fly to U.S. aircraft, but the frequency of U.S. surveillance missions around China.

These missions are probably increasing in frequency because of tensions in the South and East China Seas. China has made a number of territorial claims in the seas because of their vast stocks of fish and the high likelihood there is energy such as oil or natural gas trapped under the sea floor.

Other nations in the region have also laid claim to these territories. These nations include Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.  

China just recently announced that it was trying to repair relations with Vietnam over its aggressive placement of an oil right in Vietnamese waters in July.