Amid tension, US warplane flew closer to Shanghai

July 27, 2020 20:35

American warplanes have approached the Chinese mainland, with one reaching within 76.5km of Shanghai, one of the closest passes in recent years, a media report said on Monday amid deepening tensions between the two nations following the tit-for-tat closure of consulates.

A United States P-8A (Poseidon) anti-submarine plane and an EP-3E reconnaissance plane entered the Taiwan Strait, flying near the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian on Sunday, according to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Peking University think tank.

It first tweeted about the operation on Sunday morning, later adding that the reconnaissance plane was flying back after approaching Fujian and the southern part of the Taiwan Strait.

The think-tank tweeted again at night, saying the US Navy P-8A was operating near Shanghai, with the USS Rafael Peralta, a guided-missile destroyer, following a similar route, asking might be a joint operation?, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

According to a chart from the think tank, the P-8A came within 76.5km of Shanghai, the closest any US planes have come to mainland China in recent years, while the other plane came within 106km of Fujian's southern coast, the report said.

It was the 12th day in a row that US military planes have approached the mainland coast, it said.

The US move comes amid an escalation in the diplomatic feud between the two nations.

China on Monday said it took control of the US consulate in Chengdu after it was formally closed as per Beijing's directive in retaliation to America's move to shut down the Chinese diplomatic mission in Houston.

Last week, the US government ordered the closure of China's consulate in Houston, Texas, claiming the mission had been involved in a larger Chinese espionage effort using diplomatic facilities around the US.

The closures were the latest in a series of confrontations ranging from areas such as trade and technology to diplomacy and the South China Sea. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar arrested in Swati Maliwal 'assault' case

Bibhav Kumar was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal who sent him to five-day police custody after the police sought his remand to question him about the incident and to retrieve data from his phone.

Back to back terror attacks in J-K: Ex-sarpanch killed, tourist couple shot at

Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.

I dedicate my man of the match award to Dayal: Faf du Plessis

Pacer Yash Dayal kept his cool in a tense final over to seal a 27-run win against Chennai Super Kings and send RCB through to the play-offs.

IPL PIX: Spirited RCB knock out CSK; qualify for play-offs!

A spirited performance from their bowlers saw Royal Challengers Bengaluru outclass Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs to qualify for the play-offs.

Banking industry doyen N Vaghul dies at 88

Veteran banker N Vaghul, who led the transformation of ICICI into a private sector lender, died on Saturday afternoon due to health complications. He was 88. Vaghul took over the reins of ICICI, then a public finance institution, in...