Japan and China are Stomping one another - in the sky
Thanks to our sister site Stomp, the word stomp has taken on a whole new meaning in the Singapore lexicon.
On top of its regular definition - that is to tread heavily and noisily according to Oxford Dictionary - Stomping someone in the Lion City these days usually refers to the taking of photos of people in embarrassing everyday situations.
Up in the skies over China and Japan, however, it seems air force pilots are doing the same thing - albeit for more serious reasons.
Tensions between the two neighbours have been increasing in the airspace over the East China Sea, with both sides alleging that their counterparts have been flying dangerously close - or "buzzing" in air force parlance - to one another while on patrol over several disputed island territories.
A recent report from Reuters says that these incidents, as well as similar ones involving ships over the waters in contention, have prompted fears of collisions that could escalate the situation even further.
As a result, pilots on both sides have been taking photos and videos to document such incidents.
Danger close
One widely-reported incident took place on June 11 when two Chinese fighters buzzed Japanese intelligence-gathering aircraft - as near as 35 to 45 metres, according to Nikkei Asian Review - on two separate occasions, resulting in Japan's Defence Ministry releasing a photo of one of the Su-27 aircraft in question taken from a Japanese plane.
China's Ministry of National Defence countered the accusations by saying Japanese fighters had encroached on their aircraft, posting an alleged video of the incident showing Japanese Self-Defence Force F-15 war planes flying alongside a Chinese jet (watch below).
The latest development reported by Nikkei Asian Review is that Japan has started to outfit some of their multi-crew aircraft with video cameras on a trial basis to capture footage of their encounters with Chinese aircraft.
Stomping in the sky - who'd have thought it?
Source: Nikkei Asian Review, Reuters
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