Two Chinese fighter jets ‘buzzed’ a US military reconnaissance plane in the South China Sea Tuesday in an “unsafe” manner, according to the Pentagon.
(FOX)- The incident comes a week after a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of China’s Fiery Cross reef, an artificial island made after months of dredging operations, more proof that tensions in the region are escalating between two global powers.
It was the third time the U.S. Navy sailed a warship close to a contested Chinese island in what the Pentagon calls “freedom of navigation” operations.
In response to China’s “unsafe” actions Tuesday, the Pentagon is “addressing the issue through the appropriate diplomatic and military channels,” according to Major Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman who said the incident occurred in international airspace during a “routine” patrol by the U.S. aircraft.
In January, China landed civilian jets on a 10,000-foot runway on Fiery Cross reef, more proof that China is militarizing the South China Sea and threatening U.S. allies in the region.
In February, China deployed fighter jets to a contested island in the South China Sea, the same place, Woody Island, where China deployed surface-to-air missiles a week before, according to satellite imagery exclusively obtained by Fox News.