U.S., CHINESE AIRCRAFT IN ’UNSAFE’ ENCOUNTER

A Chinese early warning aircraft and a U.S. Navy patrol plane had an “unsafe” encounter over the South China Sea this week, the U.S. Pacific Command said Friday, in the first such incident known to have taken place under President Donald Trump’s administration.

The interaction between a Chinese KJ-200 and a U.S. Navy P-3C plane took place Wednesday in international airspace, Pacific Command spokesman Robert Shuford said. He did not say what was unsafe about the encounter, although the term usually implies planes flying too close to one another.

Shuford says the U. S. plane was on a routine mission and operating according to international law. The Department of Defence and the Pacific Command “are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces,” he said.

The Chinese Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Philippine Defence Department spokesman Arsenio Andolong also expressed concern because the incident happened near Scarborough Shoal, located within the Philippines’ 325km exclusive economic zone but claimed by China.