A Chinese fighter jet conducted an "unnecessarily aggressive maneuver" during an intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea last week, the US military said in a statement Tuesday.
The Chinese J-16 fighter cut directly in front of the nose of the US RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft on May 26, forcing the US plane to fly through the wake turbulence of the intercepting aircraft. In video of the incident released by the US military, the turbulence is evident as it disturbs the US aircraft along its flight path.
The RC-135 was conducting "safe and routine operations" in international airspace, US Indo-Pacific Command said.
"The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate -- safely and responsibly -- wherever international law allows, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force will continue to fly in international airspace with due regard for the safety of all vessels and aircraft under international law," said the statement from INDOPACOM.
Over the past several years, the South China Sea has emerged as a major potential flashpoint in the Asia Pacific. Not only does the strategic waterway hold vast resources of fish, oil and gas, but about a third of global shipping passes through it -- worth about $3.4 trillion in 2016, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' China Power Project.
China claims historic jurisdiction over almost the entirety of the vast sea, and since 2014 has built up tiny reefs and sandbars into artificial islands heavily fortified with missiles, runways and weapons systems -- sparking outcry from the other claimants.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
