28/02/2020
- US Pacific Fleet calls the action last week ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ and a breach of code of conduct
- Analyst describes it as a ‘serious provocation’ that could have posed a navigational hazard
The US said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was targeted as it flew over international waters in the western Pacific last week. Photo: AP
A Chinese destroyer pointed a laser at an American maritime patrol aircraft over the western Pacific Ocean last week, the US Navy said, calling the incident “unsafe and unprofessional”.
The US Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Friday that the destroyer targeted the P-8A Poseidon aircraft as it flew over international waters about 610km (380 miles) west of Guam on February 17.
“The laser, which was not visible to the naked eye, was captured by a sensor on board the P-8A,” the statement said. “Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems.”
It said the action by the Chinese warship had breached the multilateral Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, which “specifically addresses the use of lasers that could cause harm to personnel or damage to equipment”.
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The action was also “inconsistent” with a memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Chinese defence ministries on rules of behaviour for safety during air and maritime encounters, the US Pacific Fleet said.
The P-8A is deployed to the Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, and is part of a squadron that conducts routine operations, maritime patrols and reconnaissance in the US 7th Fleet area of operations, according to the statement.
China and the United States have exchanged tough words as tensions simmer over their military activities in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly over the South China Sea and Taiwan.
A Chinese destroyer is said to have pointed a laser at a US Navy aircraft near Guam.
Photo: Weibo The Chinese South Sea Fleet completed a 41-day drill in the western Pacific earlier this week, according to state media, in a move to show its military exercises were continuing even as the country battles the coronavirus epidemic.
Collin Koh, a research fellow with the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said the latest incident was a “serious provocation”, noting that the Chinese military had also pointed lasers at the US in Djibouti.
The South China Sea dispute explained
“Use of lasers is as dangerous as manoeuvring one’s aerial or naval asset too close to another to cause the potential of collision – the lasers can pose a serious navigational hazard,” Koh said.
“While both [the Chinese and US navies] have the legitimate right to carry out their activities on the high seas out there in the western Pacific – including the use of these platforms to monitor each other – the use of lasers to endanger navigation in fact represents a serious provocation,” he said.
“The US Navy P-8A might have flown lower for closer observation, but I don’t think it went to the point of risking a collision with the [Chinese] warship.”
The incident was likely to further undermine trust and military stability between China and the United States, Koh said.
Conflict prevention in the South China Sea depends on China abiding by the existing rules of navigation
“It also wouldn’t be the first time the [Chinese navy] formations would have had ‘company’ from US military assets keeping tabs on them,” he said.
But Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping rejected the US Navy’s claim that the Chinese warship had violated the code of conduct, saying its action was just a routine warning.
“The US is unhappy because the Chinese fleet was very close to Guam, and it saw the Chinese fleet as taking an unfriendly measure against the US,” he said.
“But it’s normal for a naval fleet and aircraft to send warnings to each other,” Song said. “If the other side’s reconnaissance plane gets too close to vessels, it can be a security risk. So they take self-defence measures.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in ‘serious provocation’, ‘unsafe and unprofessional’, Chinese, Code of conduct, coronavirus epidemic, Guam, Japan, Kadena Air Force Base, laser, navigational hazard, Okinawa, P-8A Poseidon, patrol aircraft, pointed, Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, The Chinese South Sea Fleet, Uncategorized, US Pacific Fleet, warship |
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13/09/2019
- Operations aimed to caution Beijing that US forces can carry out amphibious campaigns far from home
- Washington has power to intervene directly in territorial disputes between its allies and China
US Marines practise speed reloads on August 9 aboard the USS Green Bay, part of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, in the Indo-Pacific region. Photo: Handout
US Marines have conducted airfield- and island-seizure drills in the East and South China seas in what observers say is meant to remind Beijing of US military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific.
The 11-day naval drills were conducted near the Philippines and around the Japanese island of Okinawa by Okinawa-based US marine expeditionary units, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit said.
Observers said the operations were meant as a warning to Beijing that the US military could carry out amphibious campaigns far from home if Washington needed to intervene in territorial disputes between China and America’s allies in the region.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Squadron 11 conducted joint weapons drills from their Wasp Amphibious Ready Group ships from August 9-19, the Okinawa-based marine unit said in a statement.
The activity took place in the Philippine and East China seas and around an American naval base in Japan, it said.
The unit’s Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon also performed a reconnaissance and surveillance mission through a high-altitude, low-opening parachute jump onto Okinawa.
A tilt-rotor aircraft, which hovers like a helicopter but flies like an aeroplane, afterward sent a landing team from a Wasp ship more than 400km (250 miles) away to establish the arming and refuelling point. The team achieved its objective in just over one hour, the statement said.
“The speed with which the Marines were able to establish the forward arming and refuelling point demonstrates a capability that is critical to conducting expeditionary operations in a contested environment,” the statement quoted Lieutenant Guirong Cai, a FARP officer-in-charge from the Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team, as saying.
“Their proficiency in swiftly setting up a refuelling point with 5,500 pounds (2.5 tonnes) of fuel demonstrates the 31st MEU’s ability to rapidly refuel and redeploy our air assets as the mission requires.”
A US landing craft lowers its ramp to unload a high mobility artillery rocket system as part of a simulated amphibious raid at Kin Blue on Okinawa on August 14. Photo: Handout
China has a territory dispute with Japan over Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, in the East China Sea, while both Beijing and Manila have put in claims on the Scarborough Shoal – also known in China as Huangyan Dao – in the South China Sea.
Adam Ni, a China specialist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, said the drills near the Philippines and Okinawa showed that such a campaign would encompass a wide area, including the South and East China seas, where the US has joined other countries in the region to conduct freedom of navigation operations since 2015.
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“It is a clear reminder to China of US military supremacy despite the narrowing of gaps in military capability in recent years,” Ni said. “The message is that the US military can still take China-controlled South China Sea features in high-intensity conflict.”
The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier sails alongside a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force guided-missile destroyer during drills. Photo: Handout
The statement did not say whether the Philippine navy and Japanese maritime self-defence force took part in the drills. But Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said the US government would call on its two allies to observe the exercises.
“Whether Washington will intervene in territorial disputes between China and the Philippines as well as China and Japan, the American [military] has used [these drills] to strengthen its island-capture and airfield seizure capabilities in unfamiliar waters and areas,” Song said.
“To show its close relationship with and commitments to Manila and Tokyo, the Americans would invite the two allies to watch the drills. That could also be a good time to sell their amphibious warships and new model aircraft to Japan.”
During the drills, 10 simulated casualties were treated by three medical technicians from the US Air Force’s special operations group and given blood transfusions before being loaded onto a KC-130 transport aircraft for in-flight medical treatment en route to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, the US Marines said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Aircraft carrier, airfield- and island-seizure drills, America’s military edge, American naval base, amphibious campaigns, amphibious raid, Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon, ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, Asia-Pacific drills, Beijing, China alert, Diaoyu Islands dispute, East China Sea, East China seas, guided missile destroyer, high mobility artillery rocket system, high-altitude, Huangyan Dao, Indo-Pacific region, Japan, Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force, Japanese island, Kin Blue, low-opening parachute jump, Macquarie University, Manila, Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Marines, Maritime drills, Okinawa, Philippine Navy, Philippines, reconnaissance, remind, Scarborough Shoal, Senkakus, South China Sea, surveillance mission, Sydney, Uncategorized, US, US landing craft, US Marines, US military supremacy, USS Green Bay, USS Ronald Reagan, Washington, Wasp Amphibious Ready Group |
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23/02/2019
- Middle-aged man seen taking a nap mid-flight said to be senior pilot with the Taiwanese carrier
- His co-pilot who took the video has also been reprimanded
The video shows the pilot in the cockpit with his head down and eyes closed. Photo: setn.com
China Airlines, Taiwan’s biggest carrier, says it has punished a pilot after a video of him taking a nap in the cockpit mid-flight was posted online.
His co-pilot, who filmed the incident, has also been reprimanded, local television station SETN reported.
In the video, a middle-aged man in a pilot uniform and headphones appears to be asleep with his head down and eyes closed while in the cockpit of a Boeing 747.
The footage drew attention after it was shown in a report on Taiwanese TV network EBC on Wednesday. The man was identified as Weng Jiaqi, a senior pilot with almost 20 years of experience who was promoted to chief pilot last year.
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It was unclear when or on which flight the video was filmed, but the airline confirmed that Weng had reported his behaviour and been punished while his co-pilot had been reprimanded for “improper behaviour”, SETN reported.
Weng, who also supervises training, is a short-haul pilot to cities including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tokyo, Okinawa and Seoul, according to the EBC report.
The China Airlines pilots went on strike on February 8, during the Lunar New Year holiday season. Photo: EPA-EFE
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The incident comes after the airline last week reached a deal with the pilots’ union to
over working conditions and benefits that forced the cancellation of more than 200 flights.
But China Airlines told EBC that the video was filmed before the pilots walked off the job.
The Taoyuan Union of Pilots began the industrial action on February 8, stranding close to 50,000 passengers and inflicting over NT$500 million (US$16.2 million) in losses on the carrier.
Under a deal signed on February 14, the union agreed not to strike again in the next 3½ years. In return, China Airlines agreed to the union’s main demand to increase the number of pilots on various flights to combat fatigue and improve safety.
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The carrier will roster three pilots on flights of more than eight hours – up from the present two – and will have four pilots on flights over 12 hours, up from three.
China Airlines president Hsieh Shih-chien said the staffing increases were expected to sharply add to the cost of the company’s operations, but the carrier agreed to the terms in the interest of safety.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Beijing, China Airlines, China Airlines president, China alert, Donghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Hsieh Shih-chien, lunar new year, Okinawa, pilot, Seoul, Shanghai, sleeping in cockpit, Taiwan’s biggest carrier, Tokyo, Uncategorized, Weng Jiaqi, working conditions and benefits |
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