Navy Aircraft Crash in South China Sea Prior to US-China Trade Talks

and two US Navy aircraft going down within minutes of each other during routine operations in the South China Sea. It's just ahead of highstakes talks between President Trump and CCP leader Xiinping. Anony's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. Two Navy aircraft went down in the South China Sea on Sunday. One Seah Hawk helicopter and a Super Hornet fighter jet were flying from a Navy carrier when they went down less than an hour apart. All five service members were safely recovered. And President Trump aboard Air Force One offering a possible explanation. >> They're going to let me know pretty soon. I think they should be able to find out. It could be bad fuel. I mean, it's possible it's bad fuel. Very unusual that that would happen. >> The Navy has not confirmed this theory, only saying that both crashes remain under investigation. Now, this is all happening as President Trump is meeting with Chinese Communist Party leader Xiinping later this week. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says the US and China have already agreed to a preliminary framework for negotiations when the two leaders meet in South Korea. Trump and Xiinping will not only be focusing on just trade but also Chinese fentinel and other security related issues. I think we will be able to discuss uh them helping us get this terrible fentanyl crisis under control. I think we are going to be able to discuss substantial uh soybean and egg purchases for our American farmers. The US and China are amid a trade war according to President Trump and tensions are high as the US and China earlier this year struck a trade deal to bring down tripledigit tariffs on each other. That agreement included China guaranteeing rare earth mineral exports to the US. But over the past few weeks, the CCP has gone back on their word and restricted those exports to the US and other countries around the world. Analysts tell NTD that even if the CCP strikes a trade deal with the US, they'll likely undermine it soon after benefiting from it. >> You really can't trust anything that she signs or that the CCP signs. The key thing is to have leverage over them. uh if you don't have leverage, they'll break any deal uh to further their own interests. >> Chinese behavior over the last few months is something we've not seen before. There's a Chinese expression, you die, I live. And it that does not mean much uh if you're hoping for concessions from the Chinese. >> The long game for the CCP is the death of what America represents for the world. They say this openly. They write it about in their documents. They call us their number one enemy in everything they write. And at the same time, China's state media is reporting that it sent military fighter jets and nuclear capable bombers to conduct military drills near Taiwan, calling them confrontation drills, possibly looking to use this threat of invading Taiwan as leverage to pressure Trump to sign a deal. Now, Taiwan's defense ministry says that these reports are just not true. Their propaganda as a means to intimidate the self-governing Democratic island. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News.