BEIJING -- China is denying that its fighter jet pilots acted dangerously during an encounter with a US surveillance plane in international airspace in which the American pilot took evasive action to avoid a possible collision. Spokesman Ren Guoqiang said in a statement Tuesday on the defence ministry's microblog that the performance of the pilots of the two J-10 fighters was “legal, necessary and professional.'' Mr Ren criticised frequent close-in surveillance runs by US planes as raising the chance of accidents. Such incidents continue to occur despite an agreement between the two sides to prevent them sparking an international crisis, as happened in April 2001 when a Chinese jet fighter collided with a US surveillance plane, leading to the death of the Chinese pilot and China's detention of the US air crew.

Source: Bangkok Post July 25, 2017 09:45 UTC