US Defense Department
- US officials are alarmed by a sharp increase in unsafe interactions with Chinese jets and ships.
- Close encounters raise the risk of an accident that could escalate to conflict, the officials say.
- For China, aggressive intercepts send a political message and have benefits for its own forces.
US officials are sounding the alarm about close calls with Chinese jets and warships, which they say are crowding and harassing US forces in the Western Pacific.
The US says those encounters are meant to force it and its allies to operate farther from China. For the Chinese pilots carrying them out, they are also part of a years-long effort to increase the complexity and value of their training through real-world interactions with a more experienced rival.