The expert flying skills of the Chinese pilots avoided a potential midair collision.(Sarcasm)
The White House had nothing bad to say Thursday about China’s intercept of a U.S. patrol plane, an incident that occurred just days before President Obama will travel to Asia to foster closer economic ties with Vietnam and Japan.
“The Department of Defense is addressing this issue through the appropriate channels,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “I would hesitate to ascribe a motive at this point.”
The White House took pains not to characterize the incident, with Mr. Earnest saying only that unspecified “initial reports” termed the incident “unsafe.” He seemed more interested in highlighting a similar episode during the George W. Bush administration, which he called “a pretty significant … that resulted in a much more significant geopolitical incident.”
In that case in 2001, a mid-air collision between a U.S. Navy signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China.
President Obama’s spokesman even credited Chinese military pilots with behaving more responsibly recently.
“Over the course of the last year, the Department of Defense has seen improvements in the way that Chinese military pilots fly, consistent with the international guidelines and consistent with the way that aircraft can be operated in a safe and professional manner,” Mr. Earnest said.