BEIJING - China, the United States and other countries on Saturday reached a preliminary agreement setting out guidelines for preventing accidents between their fighters in a new bid to avoid military confrontation in Asia.
The risk of warplanes has increased in recent years, especially as Beijing increasingly holds sovereignty over the South China Sea, sparking tensions with its neighbors in the disputed region.
While not demanding any sovereignty over the region, Washington, the dominant naval and air force in the Asia-Pacific region, has entered the crisis line.
On Friday, the defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) approved guidelines on how to manage weather accidents at their annual meeting in Singapore.
Eight defense ministers from outside the group expressed "tentative support" for the guidelines, including US Defense Secretary James Matisse and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fengi, according to a joint ministerial statement.
Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Ing-hin said Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand had expressed their support for the principles.
"Any incident between military aircraft could lead to a series of uncontrollable events," Ng was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
"A reckless pilot may turn off all communications equipment and decide to intimidate," he said. "It would be disastrous."
The guidelines set standards of conduct for pilots, to prevent undesirable clashes. These principles include keeping receivers and transmitters always open and adhering to existing aviation treaties.
The new rules follow existing guidelines to prevent accidents between warships.
