China’s unsafe behaviour against the US

In October 2023, the US Department of Defense released a suite of declassified images and videos depicting coercive and risky behaviour by China’s military against US aircraft.

The US release noted that there have been more than 180 incidents of coercive behaviour by China’s military against the US since late 2021. The release provides details on 15 specific incidents. The US also noted that Chinese intercepts aren’t limited to the skies; rather, they’re part of a broader pattern of PLA behaviour throughout the region. For example, on 3 June 2023, a Chinese guided-missile destroyer dangerously cut across the bow of an American destroyer during a rare joint Canada–US mission sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

This Pressure Points Tracker doesn’t cover China’s unsafe behaviour against the US in detail, given that the Pentagon provided so much public detail in 2023. Furthermore, since the US released that information, the Pentagon has found that the PLA has reduced the number of coercive and risky air intercepts of US platforms since late 2023.

However, if unsafe intercepts of US platforms resume, they’ll be captured in future updates of the Pressure Points Tracker