Chinese jet ‘flew within 10 metres of US plane’

A Chinese fighter jet flew perilously close to a US military aircraft this week in a “very dangerous” incident in international air space east of Hainan Island, the Pentagon said.

The episode raised tensions and underlined the growing rivalry between the United States and China, with Beijing building up its military and asserting its territorial claims across the Pacific.

"On August 19, an armed Chinese fighter jet conducted a dangerous intercept of a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft that was on a routine mission,” spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told a news conference.

The close call occurred about 135 miles (220 kilometres) east of China’s Hainan, he said.

“We have registered our strong concerns to the Chinese about the unsafe and unprofessional intercept, which posed a risk to the safety and the well-being of the air crew and was inconsistent with customary international law,” Kirby added.

The move also threatened to jeopardise longstanding US efforts to bolster relations with China’s military, he said, at a time when officials have touted progress in forging a dialogue with Beijing’s top brass.

The armed Chinese warplane SU-27 came close to the surveillance aircraft three times, flying underneath the American plane, at the P-8’s nose and then in parallel with the wingtips, less than 30 feet (10 metres) apart, according to Kirby.