WASHINGTON: A Chinese fighter jet flew perilously close to a US military aircraft in international airspace this week in a “very dangerous” incident east of China’s Hainan Island, the Pentagon said on Friday.

“On Aug 19, an armed Chinese fighter jet conducted a dangerous intercept of a US Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft that was on a routine mission, “spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told a news conference.

“We have registered our strong concerns to the Chinese about the unsafe and unprofessional intercept, which posed a risk to the safety and the well-being of the air crew, and was inconsistent with customary international law,” Admiral Kirby said.

The move also undermined efforts to bolster US relations with China’s military, he added. The armed Chinese warplane flew close to the surveillance aircraft three times, flying underneath the American plane, at the P-8’s nose and then in parallel with the wingtips, less than nine metres apart, he said. In approaching the P-8, the Chinese jet at one point performed a barrel roll, apparently to display its weapons, he said.

“The Chinese jet also passed the nose of the P-8 at 90 degrees with its belly toward the P-8 Poseidon, we believe to make a point of showing its weapons load,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014