China defends intercepting US Navy plane

China's Defense Ministry rejected US accusations that a Chinese fighter jet conducted a ‘dangerous intercept’ of a US Navy surveillance aircraft off the southern Chinese coast. Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun called the US accusations ‘groundless’ in a statement issued Saturday night. He said the Chinese pilot conducted operations that were ‘professional and the Chinese jet kept a safe distance from the US planes.’ Yang called the Chinese flights ‘routine identification and verification.’ Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby gave a different account Friday of the Aug. 19 encounters about 135 miles (220 kilometers) east of China's Hainan Island. He said the Chinese jet made several close passes by the Navy P-8 Poseidon plane, coming within 30 feet (9 meters) of it at one point. Kirby said that included the Chinese jet doing a ‘barrel roll’ maneuver over the top of the Poseidon — a modified Boeing 737 — and passing across the nose of the Navy plane apparently to show that it was armed. Kirby said the Chinese jet's maneuvering posed a risk to the safety of the US air crew and was ‘inconsistent with customary international law.’ He said it was the fourth such incident since March of ‘close intercepts’ involving Chinese jets, according to AP.