Posted on 12/07/2001 7:05:46 AM PST by batter
Chinese intercepts
China's military has been increasing aerial intercepts of U.S. reconnaissance aircraft flying in international airspace along China's coast, according to defense officials.
In one recent encounter, a Chinese interceptor jet flew alongside a U.S. Air Force RC-135 monitoring aircraft and came within 1,000 feet of the jet as it flew along the coast.
The Chinese jet, which was not identified by its type, flew at the same altitude as the RC-135, an electronic intelligence-gathering aircraft. The incident occurred Nov. 7.
An earlier intercept involved a U.S. Air Force EP-3 surveillance aircraft being shadowed by a Chinese jet that came within 500 feet over the East China Sea.
Until these recent encounters, Chinese interceptor jets had been staying at distances of several miles from U.S. aircraft, which monitor Chinese military and government communications and activities.
The incidents highlight China's continuing harassment of U.S. surveillance aircraft. They follow a period of relative calm in the cat-and-mouse aerial surveillance operations.
A Chinese F-8 jet collided with an EP-3 on April 1, causing the Chinese jet to crash and forcing the EP-3 to make an emergency landing at a military airfield on China's Hainan island.
The incident led to a standoff between the U.S. and Chinese governments.
Reports of the latest intercepts were disclosed as the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Dennis Blair, has begun a quiet effort to restart U.S.-China military exchanges.
The effort runs counter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's cautious approach to renewing exchanges with the Chinese military since the Hainan island crisis.
Critics of military exchanges with the Chinese point out that they have been used in the past by Beijing to increase its war-fighting knowledge — something proponents of greater exchanges have sought to dismiss as insignificant.
Chinese nuclear 'event'
U.S. intelligence agencies have detected new efforts by China on strategic nuclear weapons. The latest evidence comes in intelligence reports that China conducted a nuclear weapons-related experiment at the remote Lop Nur test facility in western Xinjiang province.
The latest nuclear weapons test was an "event" last month that produced no detectable nuclear yield or blast, officials said. It followed several similar tests that were reported in classified intelligence reports in July.
The Chinese conducted three nuclear weapons-related tests at Lop Nur in June and July. Preparations were spotted by U.S. intelligence imagery.
The tests are part of China's aggressive strategic nuclear weapons buildup that includes two new road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, the DF-31 and the DF-41, and a new class of ballistic missile submarines outfitted with JL-2 missiles — a naval version of the DF-31.
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