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Seong Hyeon Choi

US and Chinese fighter jets have engaged in a rare stand-off over the Yellow Sea, according to media reports in South Korea.
This comes at a time when the United States has been trying to shift the focus of its troops stationed in the country away from North Korea to concentrate more on China.
The incident on Wednesday involved around 10 US F-16s, which took off from Osan Air Base around 65km (40 miles) south of Seoul and flew west over the Yellow Sea as part of a training operation, according to reports citing South Korean military sources.
As the F-16s approached China’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), Beijing responded by scrambling its own fighter jets, in what South Korea’s MBC news described as a “brief” face-off.
The US planes did not enter the Chinese ADIZ and the Chinese planes did not enter the South Korean one.
The US has not released any information about Wednesday’s operation, but it is rare for its planes to approach the Chinese air defence zone over the Yellow Sea.
An ADIZ is an arbitrary line countries can use to identify aerial threats by asking planes to make themselves known.
Unlike territorial airspace, these zones are not protected under international law, but it is customary for military aircraft to provide their flight plans in advance when approaching another country’s ADIZ.
None of the three countries has officially commented on the incident.
The US currently has 28,500 service personnel stationed in South Korea, including the base at Osan.
Traditionally their main role has been to focus on the threat from North Korea rather than China.
However, the US has recently been pushing its allies to take on a greater military role while increasing the flexibility of American forces stationed in South Korea so they could be deployed in other parts of the Asia-Pacific in the event of any conflict.
The new National Defence Strategy, released last month, said the US would provide “critical but more limited” support to South Korea, which would take the lead role in defending itself from the North.
The strategy focuses on deterring China through “strength, not confrontation”, by establishing “strong denial forces” along the “first island chain”. It also says the US should “urge and enable” its key regional allies and partners to do more for collective defence.
The first island chain is a series of islands and archipelagos in East Asia, running from Japan to the Philippines and including Taiwan.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China and has never renounced the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.


Most countries, including the US and South Korea, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any forcible change to the status quo and is legally bound to supply Taipei with weapons to defend itself.
Wednesday’s stand-off followed the recent row over Chinese-built facilities in the Yellow Sea that may have military uses and were set up without consultations with South Korea.
Seoul suspected Beijing was trying to use the buoys to increase its footprint in the area known as the Provisional Measures Zone, where their respective exclusive economic zones overlap.
China reportedly removed the facilities after last month’s visit by South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, although the Chinese foreign ministry insisted the decision had been made independently by a company that operates the facilities and not because of any request from Seoul.


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The American warplanes made a rare approach towards China’s air defence identification zone over the Yellow Sea, local media reported


The American warplanes made a rare approach towards China’s air defence identification zone over the Yellow Sea, local media reported.


China scrambles fighters to confront US warplanes based in South Korea

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The American warplanes made a rare approach towards China’s air defence identification zone over the Yellow Sea, local media reported

The American warplanes made a rare approach towards China’s air defence identification zone over the Yellow Sea, local media reported