Footage shows Chinese plane setting off flares in ‘coercive’ moves against US military, Pentagon says

Newly-released footage by the Pentagon shows Chinese military planes flying close to US aircraft in what the US military has called “coercive and risky operational behaviour”.

One of the declassified videos shows a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plane releasing eight flares 900 feet away from a US plane in the East China Sea in July this year, the Department of Defence said.

Another clip from June 2022 shows a PLA fighter jet flying next to a US military plane in the South China Sea according to the Pentagon, who added that the “US operator radioed the PLA fighter jet... the PLA pilot responded using explicit language.”