US spy drone seen over South China Sea headed for Taiwan, Chinese think tank says
- United States could be seeking to track Chinese navy’s underwater activities in the region, observer says
- It comes as Washington steps up military presence after formally rejecting most of Beijing’s claims to the waterway
The US Navy MQ-4C Triton – a long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle – was seen flying towards the southeast of Taiwan at about noon on Wednesday, according to the SCS Probing Initiative (SCSPI), a Peking University think tank.
It said a US P-8A anti-submarine aircraft and a KC-135R aerial refuelling aircraft were also seen on Thursday flying southwest of Taiwan over the South China Sea.
The Triton drone seen on Wednesday is part of the US Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force. Operated autonomously using maritime sensors, it can work with the manned anti-submarine aircraft to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over vast ocean and coastal regions.
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Washington’s hardened position on Beijing’s claims in South China Sea heightens US-China tensions
Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military expert, said the US Navy could be seeking to track underwater activities by the Chinese navy.
“The deployment of surveillance aircraft such as the MQ-4C, P-8A and P-3C [Orion maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft] could help the US Navy to reconnoitre warship, submarine and other underwater activities in the region as they are able to detect sound pulses and track submarines,” Song said.
A day after Pompeo’s statement, guided-missile destroyer the USS Ralph Johnson carried out a freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, sailing near the disputed Spratly Islands, the US Pacific Fleet said in a statement. Known as the Nansha Islands in Chinese, they are also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
According to the SCSPI, the US warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of Beijing-controlled Cuarteron Reef for the first time since 2016, and Fiery Cross Reef for the sixth time this year.
The US has increased its so-called freedom of navigation and overflight operations in the South China Sea as part of efforts to challenge China’s military build-up and land reclamation projects in the disputed waters. Beijing has rejected these patrols and accused the US and its allies of raising tensions in the region.
The under-the-radar South China Sea projects Beijing uses to cement its claims
According to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, China has significantly expanded Cuarteron Reef since 2013, building helicopter pads, radar facilities and possible gun or missile emplacements.
China has also carried out land reclamation work at Fiery Cross Reef since 2014, turning it into one of its biggest artificial islands with an airbase, 3,000-metre runway and shelters that could house mobile missile launchers, according to AMTI.
