S10
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2009
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To be fair, the Soviet Union had "fishing trawlers" that sat 13 miles off of American coast and collected intelligence, just a mile off territorial water. The United States navy and coast guard did nothing except watched. United States considers Exclusive Economic Zone to be international water and can freely operate. China on the other hand does not consider spying in EEZ to be a legitimate activity.The EP-3 was within 70 miles of the Chinese coastline. In contrast, the US warns to shoot down any unidentified aircraft within 200 miles of US coastline. Even if international waters extend at 70 miles from the Chinese coastline, the EP-3's close range to the Exclusive Economic Zones and the clear provocation of Chinese territories is more than enough for the Chinese defenses to label it as an attack.
The EP-3, especially modified to spy submarine facilities, further made it clear to the Chinese that this was an American spy mission on the Hainan submarine base, one of the largest submarine bases in China.
From a radio transcript taken from the conversation of the other J-8 pilot and ground radar stations, the J-8 pilot asked for permission to shoot down the US plane, as it had continued to travel towards Chinese airspace and resulted in the loss of his wingman's J-8. He was denied, because the radar operators viewed it as an accident and did not want to start a war.
Clearly, the Chinese restrained from taking serious defensive measures.
As many people asked, what would the US do if a Chinese Y-8T aircraft appeared within 70 miles of the US coastline and continued to fly straight for the US with the clear intention of surveilling US naval bases?
It's a conflict of opinion and useless to drag it out. There will be a day when China does the same to United States. No empire remains standing forever, especially one in decline.