TAIPEI, Taiwan — Chinese warplanes dragged a US military aircraft across the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, the Chinese military said.
The US aircraft was a P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance and patrol aircraft, capable of long-range anti-submarine warfare, according to a statement from the Eastern Theater Commander of the People’s Liberation Army.
Chinese military forces “arranged warplanes to track and monitor the flight of the American plane and dealt with it in accordance with the law,” said Li Xi, a senior colonel and spokesman for the command.
“Theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security, and regional peace and stability,” he added.
The US Navy did not immediately comment on the incident.
China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as its own territory and wants other countries to patrol the body of water that separates it from the island.
Friday, Germany sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait in its first transit of the disputed waters in more than two decades, drawing criticism from Beijing.
In 2001, a US surveillance plane and a Chinese navy fighter collided in the air near the Chinese island province of Hainan, resulting in the death of the Chinese pilot. The United States said its plane was in international airspace and the accident was the result of reckless flight on the Chinese side.