The United States continues its spying activity in Northeast Asia amid China’s military threat, as one of its unmanned aircraft was spotted flying near the East Asian power.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command for comment via email. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why It Matters
Facing China’s rapidly growing military power, both nuclear and conventional, the U.S. has maintained a strong military presence in the Western Pacific, deploying some of its most-capable assets, such as F-35 stealth fighter jets and nuclear-powered submarines.
Japan, where the U.S. has stationed approximately 60,000 troops to deter and defend against regional aggression, hosts American drones operated by the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Navy across its territory, including outlying southwestern islands near China.
Beijing has long protested “close-in reconnaissance” conducted by the U.S., accusing it of threatening China’s sovereignty and security. The U.S. military, in turn, has blamed its Chinese counterpart for conducting “unprofessional intercepts” of its spy aircraft.
What To Know
Citing flight tracking data, @NZ_Trav, a New Zealand-based open-source intelligence analyst on the social-media platform X, said a U.S. Navy MQ-4C drone, designed for maritime surveillance, flew over the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea on Thursday.
The drone was launched from Japan’s Okinawa Island, where the U.S. has established a stronghold for projecting air power at Kadena Air Base. The base also hosts Air Force and Marine Corps MQ-9 drones, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry document.
While flight tracking data was incomplete, it indicates that the MQ-4C drone reached as far north over the Yellow Sea between China’s Shandong Province and South Korea and as far south over waters off Taiwan’s northern coast and China’s Fujian Province.
U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman said the MQ-4C drone can fly at altitudes above 50,000 feet for more than 24 hours, with a range of 8,515 miles. It is equipped with multiple sensors, giving it a persistent maritime surveillance capability.
Regarding its drone deployments, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command previously told Newsweek that unmanned aircraft provide “continuous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities” that enhance security across the Indo-Pacific theater.
The U.S. drone’s flight near China’s coastline comes just days after a Canadian patrol aircraft was intercepted by Chinese fighter jets while flying in international airspace over the East China Sea to enforce United Nations sanctions on North Korean vessels.
What People Are Saying
The Pentagon’s Chinese military power report 2024 commented: “Since late 2023, the [People’s Liberation Army, PLA] has reduced the number of coercive and risky air intercepts of U.S. platforms compared to the previous two years, when the PLA engaged in notably increased aggressive activity, particularly in the East and South China Seas. However, the PLA continues to conduct unsafe maneuvers in the vicinity of allied forces operating in the region.”
Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference in May 2023: “I would like to point out that, for quite some time, the U.S. side has frequently sent aircraft and vessels to conduct close-in reconnaissance on China, seriously threatening China’s sovereignty and security.
“Such provocative and dangerous moves are the root cause for maritime security issues. The U.S. needs to immediately stop such dangerous acts of provocation.”
What Happens Next
The U.S. is likely to continue spy flights near China using manned and unmanned aircraft. It remains unclear whether any encounter between the two militaries will occur.
