US slams Beijing for 'aggressive' intercept of spy plane over South China Sea

The US military has accused a Chinese fighter jet crew of “unnecessarily aggressive” behavior during the interception of an American spy plane over the South China Sea earlier this month. The Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said the Chinese Shenyang J-16 strike fighter flew directly in front of the nose of the US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft on May 26, “forcing the US aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence.” The RC-135 was operating in international airspace, INDOPACOM said. The military released a video of the intercept which shows the Chinese jet cutting in front of the American plane, causing it to shake. The maneuver is the latest incident in which the Chinese military is accused of unprofessional behavior amid heightened tensions in the region. In February, the Philippines accused a Chinese Coast Guard vessel of shining a laser at its crew to deter the ship from sailing near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. US Indo-Pacific Command via Storyful