US Navy has had 18 dangerous or unprofessional meetings with China since 2016

The US Navy has had 18 dangerous or unprofessional clashes with Chinese military forces in the Pacific since 2016, according to US military statistics obtained by CNN.

"We have identified 19 unsafe and / or unprofessional interactions with China and Russia since 2016 (18 with China and one with Russia)," said Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a spokeswoman for the US Pacific Fleet, told CNN.

A US official familiar with the statistics told CNN that 2017, the first year of the Trump administration, had been the scene of the most dangerous or unprofessional clashes with Chinese forces during this period.

At least three of these incidents occurred in February, May and July of the same year and involved Chinese fighter planes, realizing what the United States considered "insecure" intercepts of aircrafts. Marine.

While the 18 recorded incidents concerned only US naval forces, the air force also had at least one such encounter during this period.

"Our continued presence in the region underscores our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and demonstrates that the US Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits," added Mr. Christensen.

The US Navy told CNN that, in comparison, there had been 50 unsafe or unprofessional clashes with Iranian military forces since 2016, including 36 this year, 14 last year and none in 2018. Forces US and Iranian navies tend to operate in water, such as the Strait of Hormuz, increasing their frequency of close contact.

The Navy carries out an average of hundreds of air and sea operations each year in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan, and officials say they take these dangerous interactions seriously. .

"Make no mistake, we are worried," said a US Navy official at CNN. "To deal with these incidents, the United States responds through the appropriate diplomatic and military channels."

The relative frequency of such interactions suggests the possibility of a collision or conflict that could trigger a crisis or conflict between the two great powers.

In 2001, a collision between a US surveillance aircraft and a Chinese fighter jet caused a major diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing.

The last meeting with China took place last month as the USS Decatur naval destroyer sailed less than 12 miles from two of the Spratly Islands as part of what the United States calls a "freedom of navigation operation." ".

During this operation, a Chinese destroyer approached within 45 meters of the American warship, forcing it to maneuver to avoid a collision. The United States called the Chinese warship's actions unsafe and unprofessional, while Beijing said the United States threatened China's security and sovereignty.

Tensions over the militarization of the islands

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis is expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, in Washington on Friday. Mattis sought to cooperate with Beijing while remaining able to give in to what the United States sees as a militarization of the South China Sea by China.

"We will cooperate where we can," Mattis said Monday during an event at the US Institute for Peace, adding that the United States "will face it where we have to for example, freedom of navigation in international waters and that sort of thing. "

The United States has intensified its criticism of China's militarization of the islands in the South China Sea, noting that the US military would continue to operate in this region to challenge what the United States viewed as claims. excessive.

"What we do not want to do is reward aggressive behavior, as you saw in the Decatur incident, by changing our behavior," Joe Felter told reporters. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia last month. the region.

"It just will not happen," he added. "We will continue to exercise our rights under international law and encourage all our partners to do the same."

At a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore, last month, at the end of a meeting with Wei: "The militarization of the South China Sea by China and its aggressive actions in international waters are destabilizing the region and threatening shared efforts for security. "

The United States regularly sails and flies planes into the South China Sea, but Beijing is particularly sensitive to operations when they approach areas where the Chinese government has built islands and set up military installations on contested maritime elements.

Chinese warships will often follow American ships operating in the region, as was the case last month, as two US Navy ships crossed the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese army has also closely monitored a recent joint military exercise between the United States and Japan involving more than 50,000 US and Japanese personnel.

US-China tensions have increased in recent weeks, with President Donald Trump accusing China of interfering in the November mid-term elections and countries involved in a large-scale trade dispute.

But on Friday, Trump told reporters that he had spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and that the two leaders wanted to work toward the conclusion of a trade agreement and would also discuss North Korea.

The Trump administration has also recently sanctioned Beijing for its purchase of Russian weapons systems.