‘It was a provocative act’: PLA pilot describes encounter with foreign military jet

A PLA bomber pilot has described an eight-minute “threatening” encounter with a foreign military jet over the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea last July.

Captain Liu Rui, 38, said he was flying his H-6K bomber on a routine patrol when he came within 10 metres of the aircraft, CCTV reported on Monday. He did not reveal to which nation the jet belonged.

“I could even clearly see the face of the pilot of that jet,” Liu said. “Since we were there for the first time, they were not used to it. All aircraft came close to us.”

The patrol over the Scarborough Shoal was first reported on the social media account of the People’s Liberation Army on July 15, three days after the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of the Philippines in a case Manila brought over a South China Sea dispute.

“After checking us out, the pilot showed off the missiles under a wing of the aircraft when he flew off, [which means] ‘I brought weapons along’,” Liu said. “This was a provocative act in my view. It was like he was showing his muscles to me.”

Liu said the foreign pilot did not violate any code of conduct but the incident was unnerving.