U.S. plane has near miss with China fighter over South China Sea

The U.S. military said Thursday that its patrol aircraft had a close call with a Chinese fighter jet in international airspace over the South China Sea last week.

According to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a J-11 fighter of the Chinese navy flew within some 6 meters of the nose of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force on Dec. 21.

U.S. plane to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, the command said in a statement.

“We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law,” the statement said, noting the U.S. airplane was conducting routine operations at the time.

The U.S. military posted a video, purportedly taken from the U.S. airplane, on its website that showed an aircraft believed to be a J-11 fighter flying close by for an extended period before leaving.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed concerns to his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe about “the increasingly dangerous behavior” demonstrated by Chinese military aircraft in the Indo-Pacific area, during their meeting in Cambodia last month.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES