Chinese fighter jet performs ‘unsafe maneuver’ within 20 feet of US plane

A Chinese fighter jet made “an unsafe maneuver” within 20 feet of a U.S. aircraft while performing an intercept of the plane over the South China Sea on Dec. 21, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

According to a Thursday press release from the command, which is responsible for overseeing U.S. military operations in the region, a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter pilot “flew an unsafe maneuver by flying in front of and within 20 feet of the nose” of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which forced the American aircraft to “take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.”

The U.S. aircraft was “lawfully conducting routine operations” over international airspace, the command said.

A video of the incident provided by the command shows the Chinese jet flying near and off the nose of the U.S. plane. As the two aircraft get closer to one another, the U.S. plane takes evasive action to avoid a collision and descends away from the Chinese jet.

“The U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force is dedicated to a free and open Indo-Pacific region and will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law,” the command’s statement reads. “We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law.”

U.S. jets routinely conduct operations in the region, including freedom of navigation operations through the South China Sea.

China has claimed much of the South China Sea as its territory and maintains that under international law, foreign militaries are not able to conduct intelligence-gathering activities in its exclusive economic zone.

However, the U.S. doesn’t recognize those territorial claims and asserts that countries, under U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, should have freedom of navigation through exclusive economic zones in the sea.