Two Chinese Fighter Jets Intercepted a US Navy Plane Over the South China Sea

Two Chinese fighter jets carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a US military aircraft on Wednesday, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The incident took place in "international airspace" as the US maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft carried out "a routine US patrol" above the South China Sea, the statement said.

The Chinese jets were reportedly J-11s, a locally-produced version of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet. The US aircraft was a Lockheed EP-3, a land-based reconnaissance plane. The Chinese jets reportedly came within 50 feet (15 meters) of the Navy aircraft.

The statement added that the Department of Defense (DoD) was addressing the issue through military and diplomatic channels.

"Over the past year, DoD has seen improvements in PRC actions, flying in a safe and professional manner," the statement said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.

A similar incident occurred in August 2014. US defense officials said then that a Chinese fighter jet flew within 50 feet of a US surveillance aircraft. The Chinese plane reportedly made a barrel roll over the top of the American jet, a move the US officials described as threatening and dangerous.

Tensions between the two nations have been rising recently.

In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military activity, released last Friday, the DoD said that China's "investments in military and weaponry operations continue on a path to increase its power projection." China expressed its displeasure over the report, condemning it as a deliberate distortion that exaggerates Chinese military activity and the country's activities in the hotly contested waters.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have overlapping claims.

The Pentagon report came just days after China scrambled fighter jets and sent three warships to shadow a US navy guided-missile destroyer that sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

"This action by the US side threatened China's sovereignty and security interests, endangered the staff and facilities on the reef, and damaged regional peace and stability," China's Foreign Minister Lu Kang said after the incident..

The US Defense Department contended that the latest "freedom of navigation" operation was undertaken to "challenge excessive maritime claims" by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam that were seeking to restrict navigation rights in the South China Sea.

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