Trucks & Nancy ... a lot of the military geeks posting on forums seem to think that newer AWACS planes do have this capability. There is certainly nothing on the official, public, military websites to support this. This event is so frustrating because of the amount of information that is posted, then disappears! It certainly doesn't look "normal" by any standards.
I don't see why only the US would be under suspicion - until very recently, only the US has had the talent + money + paranoia to develop technologically innovative weaponry just because. But I should think China now has those features in equal measure.
Also, doesn't China practically own America now? There could be a certain amount of uncomfortable co-operation going on there ... whatever it is they might be co-operating on 