Beijing demanded an end to US surveillance near China on Thursday after two of its fighter jets carried out what the Pentagon said was an “unsafe” intercept of a US military reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea.
The incident, likely to increase tension in and around the contested waterway, took place in international airspace on Tuesday as the plane carried out “a routine US patrol,” a Pentagon statement said. A US defence official said two Chinese J-11 fighter jets flew within 50 feet (15 meters) of the US EP-3 aircraft. The official said the incident took place east of Hainan island. “Initial reports characterised the incident as unsafe,” the Pentagon statement said.
“It must be pointed out that US military planes frequently carry out reconnaissance in Chinese coastal waters, seriously endangering Chinese maritime security,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei Hong told reporters.
“We demand that the United States immediately cease this type of close reconnaissance activity to avoid having this sort of incident happening again,” Mr Hong said. Speaking at a press briefing, he described the Pentagon statement as “not true” and said the actions of the Chinese aircraft were “completely in keeping with safety and professional standards.”
“They maintained safe behaviour and did not engage in any dangerous action,” Mr Hong said.
Meanwhile, the US has said that it was reviewing the “unsafe” intercept of one of its spy plane by two Chinese fighter jets in international airspace over the disputed South China Sea to decide an “appropriate response”.
“The department of defence is reviewing public claims of a May 17 intercept of a US maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft by two tactical aircraft from the People’s Republic of China,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.
The encounter comes a week after China scrambled fighter jets as a US Navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
Another Chinese intercept took place in 2014 when a Chinese fighter pilot flew acrobatic maneuvers around a US spy plane.
