China demands US halt recon flights along coast

China is demanding that Washington immediately cease close surveillance along the country’s coast, following what the Pentagon described as an “unsafe” encounter between two Chinese fighter jets and a U.S. military plane. The Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane on a routine patrol Tuesday in international airspace over the South […]

China is demanding that Washington immediately cease close surveillance along the country’s coast, following what the Pentagon described as an “unsafe” encounter between two Chinese fighter jets and a U.S. military plane.
The Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane on a routine patrol Tuesday in international airspace over the South China Sea.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday that the Pentagon’s account was “not true.”
“The two Chinese fighter jets tracked and monitored [the U.S. plane] in accordance with the law and regulations,” he said, adding that the jets “continually kept a safe distance and did not take any dangerous actions.”