US and Chinese fighter jets engaged in a brief aerial standoff over waters near the Korean Peninsula this week, according to South Korean media, in a rare and dangerous incident that underscores ongoing simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Yonhap, citing military sources, reported that China scrambled aircraft on Wednesday after roughly 10 US jets took off from an American airbase in South Korea for planned drills. The US had reportedly filed its flight plan in advance.
F-16 fighters assigned to US Forces Korea (USFK) launched from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, and flew near the overlapping air defense identification zones (ADIZ) of South Korea and China. The US aircraft did not enter China’s ADIZ, according to the report, but alarm bells still went off for the Chinese PLA military.
In response, “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army organized naval and air forces to monitor and effectively respond to the activities throughout the process in accordance with laws and regulations,” China’s Global Times reported Friday.
The outlet described the episode as US warplanes operating in airspace facing China over the Yellow Sea – a move that prompted Beijing’s rapid response.
“The F-16s reportedly flew to an area between the respective air defense identification zones of South Korea and China, prompting the Chinese military to dispatch its own fighter jets to the scene, but no clash occurred,” Yonhap writes.
According to more unusual aspects to the incident:
The paper also noted an “unusual” number of US jets in the air, adding that it could suggest that the exercise had been “aimed at signaling deterrence toward China.”
Yonhap news agency said that Washington had informed Seoul of the planned mission, but did not elaborate.
China’s Global Times acknowledged the incident, saying that Beijing’s military “organized sea and air forces to conduct continuous monitoring… and effectively responded to and handled the situation.”
In the background, President Trump has continued to positively tout his highly anticipated trip to Beijing the first week of April. On China’s red lines concerning handing over to Taiwan record-breaking arms packages, Trump has remained ambiguous…
Trump says he “wouldn’t answer” a question on how the US would respond if Taiwan were attacked by China.
“I would have just said that it’s none of your business right now … When it comes to war, you don’t talk about your strategy,” he says.pic.twitter.com/kcih0jRPBI
— Rosie Birchard (@RosieBirchard) February 20, 2026
As for other tensions, Beijing is not happy that Washington is accusing it of conducting banned nuclear weapons detonation tests.
The CCP has responded to the accusation of an alleged 2020 test via state mouthpiece (@HuXijin_GT), saying there is an ulterior motive for the timing of this announcement: “Trump is eager to resume nuclear testing and needs a plausible reason, and accusing China of conducting nuclear tests is the perfect pretext.”
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