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![John Kirby, the US Pentagon press secretary, had said on Friday that China had attempted a reckless mid-air intercept, an encounter “very, very close, very dangerous” [Image: chinadefencereview.com]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/j-10_fighting_plane_combat_aircraft_chinese_air_force_002_ar.jpg)
John Kirby, the US Pentagon press secretary, had said on Friday that China had attempted a reckless mid-air intercept, an encounter “very, very close, very dangerous” [Image: chinadefencereview.com]
“The reason for accidents is mass and large-scale surveillance of China’s territory by the United States, which puts the aerial and sea security of both sides,” said China’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun.
China’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that a US anti-submarine plane and a patrol aircraft flew to an airspace about 220 kilometers east of China’s Hainan Island to conduct close-in surveillance Tuesday morning, and then a Chinese fighter jet took off to “make regular identification and verification”.
John Kirby, the US Pentagon press secretary, had said on Friday that China had attempted a reckless mid-air intercept, an encounter “very, very close, very dangerous”. This is the fourth such incident in the past five months.
Yang responded by saying that US accusations were “totally groundless,” as the Chinese pilot undertook a “professional operation” and kept the jet within a safe distance from the US aircraft.
China has said the US needs to create a plausible atmosphere for the development of bilateral ties even as tensions persist in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
China has been more aggressively asserting its claims to about 90 per cent of the South China Sea, territory claimed disparately by Vietnam, Philippines and others in the region. The push comes even as the US seeks to assert its own influence in the region in the form of a much-hyped Asia Pivot.
TBP and Agencies
