China offers US aid after two Navy aircraft crash in South China Sea; blames US military activity

Beijing: China on Monday said it is prepared to offer humanitarian assistance to the United States following reports of two US Navy aircraft — an MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter and an F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter — crashing in the South China Sea on Sunday. The statement came as Beijing emphasised that increased US military activity in the region remains the primary source of maritime tensions, the Global Times reported.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing had “taken note” of the incidents and would be willing to provide help “if the US side makes a request.” He also criticised Washington’s growing naval and aerial presence in the disputed waters, calling it “the root cause of maritime security issues” that threaten regional peace and stability.

According to the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, the twin accidents occurred during separate routine operations on Sunday. Around 2:45 pm local time, a US Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter assigned to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 crashed into the sea, but all three crew members were rescued safely by Carrier Strike Group 11. About 30 minutes later, an F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 22 also went down during carrier operations from the USS Nimitz. Both pilots ejected successfully and were recovered in stable condition.

The South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest waterways, remains a flashpoint of geopolitical rivalry, with overlapping territorial claims by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Beijing asserts sovereignty over most of the region and has developed fortified outposts on several islands, often in defiance of international rulings.

The US has routinely conducted freedom-of-navigation operations to challenge China’s expansive territorial claims — a policy that Beijing routinely condemns as provocation.

The incidents coincided with US President Donald Trump’s ongoing Asia tour, ahead of a scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this week. While bilateral ties have been tense, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that Washington and Beijing had reached a “framework trade agreement” in principle ahead of the leaders’ meeting.

With inputs from ANI