Opinion | South China Sea: If US spy planes were posing as airliners, it must explain why

Name: Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions
Uploaded: 2020-10-01T17:00:10.000Z
Duration: 2 min 32 s
Description: Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions

Using a false civilian cover for spy planes may not be illegal but is dangerous and risks a major international incident. On this and undersea drones, the US owes the world more than studied silence

Reading Time:4 minutes

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Mark J. Valencia

Published: 1:00am, 2 Oct 2020Updated: 5:32am, 2 Oct 2020

The United States has made violation of the international order its mantra in bashing China’s behaviour in the South China Sea. But it now stands accused of violating that order by flying military spy planes under the civilian “false flags” of other countries while collecting intelligence on China’s defences. China claims the US has done this at least 100 times this year. This is only its latest accusation of US violations.

According to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, between September 8 and 10, several US Air Force RC-135 electromagnetic signals detection and collection aircraft used identification codes assigned to Malaysian civilian aircraft while lingering in international airspace between the Hainan and the Paracel Islands. The planes took off from US bases on Okinawa and Guam.

Some allege that such purposeful impersonation violates the Convention on International Civil Aviation. All planes registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are assigned a unique six-digit code which is automatically transmitted by their transponders when interrogated by air traffic control radar. This mainly ensures that planes maintain minimum separation.

In response to the allegation, General Kenneth Wilsbach, head of Pacific Air Forces, said: “I know we follow the rules for international airspace.”

02:32

Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions

If using a false civilian cover for spy planes is not against international law, it should be. In 1983, after a US spy plane crossed its flight path, a Korean Airlines airliner was mistaken for it and shot down by the Soviet air force, killing all 269 on board. At the very least, the practice is a dangerous departure from international norms and undermines confidence in the ICAO and its identification system.

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