U.S. Says Chinese Jet Conducted ‘Unnecessarily Aggressive Maneuver’ On American Spy Plane Over South China Sea

The Defense Department has revealed that a Chinese fighter jet flew in front of the nose of a U.S. spy plane over the South China Sea last weekend. This marks another in a growing number of incidents involving China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and vessels.

The Pentagon called the maneuver by the Chinese J-16 “unnecessarily aggressive,” forcing the U.S. RC-125 plane to fly through the jet’s bumpy wake turbulence.

The Pentagon also stated that the U.S. plane was “conducting safe and routine operations… in accordance with international law.”

This week, China rejected a meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The Pentagon had previously requested this meeting ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual international security conference, in early June.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained that last weekend’s incident demonstrates why it’s necessary to have “regular open lines of communication, including by the way between our defense ministers.”

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that regular U.S. aerial and naval surveillance over the South China Sea has threatened the country’s national security.

A previous incident occurred in February when a Cheinse J-11 fighter jet appeared 500 feet away from a U.S. P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The U.S. plane was mostly flying above unpopulated islands, but a Chinese military station warned it to not approach further.