See how close a Chinese fighter jet flies past a US Air Force plane

The US Air Force has released video of a Chinese fighter jet allegedly coming dangerously close to a US reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea on December 21.

The Air Force’s large Boeing RC-135 plane undertook evasive maneuvers at one point to avoid “a collision” with the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Shenyang J-11 fighter jet after the planes drifted within 20 feet of each other, according to a statement by the US Indo-Pacific Command released on Thursday.

The American plane was “lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace,” according to the US statement.

China frequently challenges US military planes in the skies, particularly over the strategically important South China Sea that China claims, The Associated Press reported. Such a challenge sparked a fatal clash in 2001, according to the AP.

“China will continue to take the necessary measures to resolutely defend its sovereignty and security, and work with regional countries to resolutely defend the peace and stability of the South China Sea,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at one daily briefing on Friday.

The U.S. statement pledged that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Joint Force “will continue to fly, sail and operate at sea and in international airspace, with due regard to the safety of all ships and aircraft in accordance with international law,” and expects other nations in the region to do the same do the same.

For more information, see the report here: