The mid-air crash in 2001 between an American EP3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet that left the Chinese pilot dead and 24 American crew members in detention after an emergency landing in China.

China seized an American underwater drone in the South China Sea in 2016. The U.S. sent radio messages requesting that the drone be returned, but the Chinese ship merely acknowledged the messages and ignored the request. The US subsequently demanded the drone’s return.