US Army gunners. Archive photoMOSCOW, 15 Jan. The United States and China are only one step away from a military disaster, The Economist says in an editorial. The British publication recalled the April 2001 incident. Then an American EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft collided with a J-8II fighter of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLA) in the South China Sea. A US Air Force aircraft was badly damaged and landed without permission on Hainan Island, where Chinese security forces detained and interrogated 24 crew members.In the United States, they announced the first sign of the beginning of a third world war In 2001, both governments took risks to end the standoff. A certain amount of luck also played a role in resolving the conflict. The then head of the White House, George W. Bush, entrusted this matter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had extraordinary influence and was able to make quick and effective decisions, the article says. An experienced diplomat was able to shield negotiators from Washington's politics, the author writes. Two decades later, a more partisan Congress and the media would certainly not allow the United States to compromise with China, the columnist suggested. In his opinion, Beijing is now also not ready to make concessions in the event of an acute incident. Both sides are getting their information from rather snarky online outlets, not the sedate TV channels that downplayed the event in 2001, the observer argues. According to crisis expert Zhang Tuoshen, China and the United States fundamentally disagree on how to avoid accidents in the air. Beijing insists that the US stop sending its aircraft to the country's borders. In Washington, «safety» means «calm and predictable behavior» during the rendezvous of fighters, the specialist explained. Since 2021, American and allied surveillance aircraft have recorded several dangerous incidents with PLA aircraft. At some point, they will lead to disaster, and it will be much more difficult to resolve this problem, the material summarizes.
