Chinese, American aircraft in "unsafe encounter" - U.S. officialsFebruary 10, 2017 - 15:47 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two U.S. defense officials told CNN that there was an "unsafe" close encounter between a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft and a Chinese surveillance aircraft Wednesday, February 8, CNN reports. One official said the Chinese plane was a People's Liberation Army Air Force KJ-200. The two planes flew within 1,000 feet of each other in the general vicinity of the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. A spokesperson for U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees U.S. troops in the region confirmed, the incident, calling it "unsafe" in a statement provided to CNN. "The U.S. Navy P-3C was on a routine mission operating in accordance with international law," Maj. Rob Shuford said. "The Department of Defense and U.S. Pacific Command are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces," he added. "We will address the issue in appropriate diplomatic and military channels." A second official said that the American P-3 had to alter course to ensure that there wasn't an aerial collision. While the Navy considers the encounter to be "unsafe," it does not assess that any malign intent was behind the incident, though the event was considered serious enough to be raised up the chain of command. The official called encounters between U.S. and Chinese aircraft like the one that took place Wednesday "extremely rare," noting that there were zero such incidents in 2015 and two in 2016. It was the first such instance of 2017. Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |