2001 World Events · Post-Cold War transition and asymmetric shock
Hainan Island EP-3 incident
A U.S. signals-intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese fighter and made an emergency landing on Hainan, producing a major diplomatic standoff.
Evidence-led reading
What is stated, why it matters, and what remains uncertain
What this is
A specific-event record selected from the protected World Events source ledger for cross-year research. It is not an exhaustive account of 2001.
Why it matters
It previewed U.S.-China military friction in contested air and maritime spaces.
What is established here
The page faithfully exposes the submitted record and its source boundary. No claim-level evidence packet has yet upgraded the record beyond a research starting point.
What remains uncertain
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Record narrative
Source-bounded summary
A U.S. signals-intelligence aircraft collided with a Chinese fighter and made an emergency landing on Hainan, producing a major diplomatic standoff.
It previewed U.S.-China military friction in contested air and maritime spaces.
Structured fields
Record at a glance
- Stable record ID
- 2001-005
- Date or period
- 2001-04-01
- Type
- Espionage / military crisis
- Focus
- Espionage
- Impact scope
- Continental
- Priority
- 4 of 5
- Location label
- Manila / South China Sea, China / United States
- Coordinate precision
- Regional-hub coordinate
- Actors named by the source record
- U.S. Navy; People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force
- Verification state
- source-start-point; sensitive details require independent verification
Geographic context
A coordinate locator, not a surveyed event footprint
The submitted record supplies 14.5995, 120.9842 with the precision label “Regional-hub coordinate.” Multi-location events, disputed borders, campaigns, and broad regions cannot be reduced to one point.
Review location and coordinate boundariesSource and verification boundary
This remains a starting-point record
Starting-point source from the submitted dataset; verify exact dates, attribution, legal posture, casualty figures, and current status before reuse.
Citation and correction
Use the stable record ID and challenge individual propositions
A correction may concern the date, place, actors, attribution, legal status, figures, coordinate precision, source characterization, or why-pivotal summary without invalidating every other field.
2IA — International Intelligence Archive. “Hainan Island EP-3 incident.” World Events record 2001-005. Reviewed July 27, 2026. https://2ix.org/world-events/2001/2001-005/