A U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted by at least two Chinese aircraft in what defense officials are deeming an “unsafe” maneuver.
According to reports, at least two Chinese J-11 tactical aircraft carried out the intercept of a U.S. EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft that was conducting a routine mission in international airspace over the South China Sea.
At one point during the Tuesday incident, the Chinese jets came within 50 feet of the U.S. aircraft.
“It needs to be pointed out that American aircraft have constantly entered China’s coastal waters conducting reconnaissance, which has posed a serious threat to China’s maritime and air safety,” Hong Lei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, said at a press briefing Thursday. “We hereby ask the U.S. immediately to stop these actions so as to avoid the recurrence of such incidents.”
Beijing also said the U.S. aircraft flew close to China’s island province of Hainan, but its own jets “kept a safe distance throughout, without taking any dangerous actions.”
Though this kind of action by China is rare, and those with Russia are much more common, the incident “definitely has people’s attention” at the Pentagon, a U.S. defense official said.
