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Chinese jet came within 10 feet of US military aircraft: US military
The close encounter followed what the United States has called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.
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This handout photograph taken and released on May 11, 2018 by Taiwan's Defence Ministry shows a Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft (left) flying alongside a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) H-6K bomber that reportedly flew over the Bashi Channel, south of Taiwan, and over the Miyako Strait, near Japan's Okinawa Island, in a drill. China sent fighter jets and other military aircraft near Taiwan on May 11 in the latest of a series of drills which Beijing has said are aimed at the island's (AFP/Handout)
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Chinese military plane came within 10 feet (3 metres) of a US air force aircraft in the contested South China Sea last week and forced it to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision in international airspace, the US military said on Thursday.
The close encounter followed what the United States has called a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.
The incident, which involved a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet and a US air force RC-135 aircraft, took place on Dec. 21, the US military said in a statement.
"We expect all countries in the Indo-Pacific region to use international airspace safely and in accordance with international law," it added.
A US military spokesperson said the Chinese jet came within 10 feet of the plane's wing, but 20 feet from its nose, which caused the US aircraft to take evasive maneuvers.
The United States has raised the issue with the Chinese government, a separate US official said.
The Chinese embassy in Washington D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
