Chinese fighter jets fly dangerously close to U.S. spy plane

Armed Chinese fighter jets flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy spy plane in international airspace Sunday, forcing the U.S. crew to take “evasive action” in order to avoid a collision, the Pentagon said Monday.

Two J-10 fighter jets intercepted a U.S. EP-3 reconnaissance plane in between the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, with one of the Chinese jets reportedly flying so close by that it set off the U.S. spy plane’s collision detection alarm.

“This is uncharacteristic of the normal safe behavior we see from the Chinese military,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Monday. “There are intercepts that occur in international airspace regularly, and the vast majority of them are conducted in a safe manner. This was the exception, not the norm.”

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matt Knight told The Associated Press that the “unsafe” intercept was being investigated.

“While we are still investigating the incident, initial reports from the U.S. aircrew characterized the intercept as unsafe,” Knight said. “The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels.”

The move is hardly China’s first “unsafe and unprofessional” interception of U.S. aircraft in the region. The Pentagon reported a similar incident in May involving two Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 jets and one of its surveillance planes over the East China Sea.

China has shown a knack for aggressive behavior in the East and South China Seas — waters where Beijing, through sovereignty claims and the building of controversial military bases and naval ports, has asserted its power despite protestations from the U.S. and nearby neighbors including Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

But China’s expansive approach hasn’t curbed U.S. activity in the contested region, where it continues to operate, sailing and flying over the oft-contested waters, conducting surveillance missions and “freedom of navigation” exercises all the while undermining China’s sovereignty claims.

The U.S. flew two B-1B Lancers over the South China Sea in early July — prompting an angry response from Beijing: “China resolutely opposes individual countries using the banner of freedom of navigation and overflight to flaunt military force and harm China’s sovereignty and security,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, according to Chinese media outlets.

The U.S. Air Force released a statement later saying the mission demonstrated “how the U.S. will continue to exercise the rights of freedom of navigation anywhere international law allows.”

U.S. Navy warships have also continued to sail nearby the disputed islands in the South China Sea in recent months, with one destroyer sailing within 12 nautical miles of an island in July.

The Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson spoke with China’s commander of the Navy, Vice Adm. Shen Jinlong last week through video teleconference, U.S. Naval Institute News reported, but the pair only discussed the threat of North Korea and possible exercises — not the South China Sea.

Display photo: Two J-10 fighter jets from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team fly past each other during a flight demonstration on the first day of the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai November 13, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip.