The U.S. Navy is conducting a salvage operation of the F-35C fighter jet that crashed in the South China Sea last month, in a bid to prevent the advanced technology from falling into the hands of the Chinese regime. However, a former U.S. Pacific Command official told The Epoch Times that “China is not capable of salvaging the aircraft.” The Seventh Fleet told U.S. Naval Institute News on Jan. 31 that the U.S. Navy is making a “recovery operations arrangement” to salvage the F-35C Lighting II joint strike fighter that fell into the South China Sea on Jan. 24. According to the Japanese Coast Guard, salvage operations are taking place in the northern area of the South China Sea, where the water depth is 11,800 feet and about 350 miles east of Woody Island in the Paracels. The Chinese regime maintains a military grip and exercises sovereignty in the region. …