Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. "sniffer" plane over the East China Sea, two U.S. military officials told NBC News on Thursday.

The WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, which "sniffs" the atmosphere for signs of nuclear activity, was conducting a routine mission Wednesday in international airspace over the East China Sea when two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft intercepted it, the officials said.

The officials wouldn't say whether the confrontation was considered unsafe, but they said the crew of the U.S. plane described it as "unprofessional." The U.S. plane was operating in accordance with international law, they said.

Officials said the matter was being addressed with China through "appropriate diplomatic channels." </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption File picture of the Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet

Two Chinese Sukhoi Su-30 jets have conducted an "unprofessional" intercept of a US aircraft, the US military said.

One of the Chinese jets came as close as 150ft (45m) to the US WC-135 plane and flew upside down above it, according to US officials cited by CNN.

The US says the plane was on a mission to detect radiation in international airspace over the East China Sea.

Tensions have repeatedly risen over US activity near the resource-rich international waters off China's coast.

The intercept, which took place on Wednesday, was deemed unprofessional "due to the manoeuvres by the Chinese pilot, as well as the speeds and proximity of both aircraft," Air Force spokesman Lt Col Lori Hodge said.

She said the issue was "being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels", and a military investigation was under way.

China has not commented on the incident, but it accuses the US of carrying out reconnaissance flights over Chinese coastal waters and regularly calls on the US to reduce patrols in the area.

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the disputed territory in the South and East China seas, though several other countries in the region have competing claims.

China has backed its expansive claims with island-building and naval patrols.

The US sniffer aircraft has previously been used to detect evidence of possible nuclear tests by North Korea.

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'Routine operations'

Separately, China and South East Asian countries have agreed a framework for a long-awaited code of conduct for the disputed South China Sea, China's foreign ministry said, without giving details on the content.

It will now be submitted to the foreign ministers of the countries in August.

Over the years, the US, China and several of the South East Asian countries have had disputes over rival activity in the South China Sea.

In February, a US aircraft carrier started what Washington described as "routine operations" in the South China Sea, with a fleet of supporting warships.

The deployment came despite Chinese warnings against challenging Beijing's sovereignty in the region.

In May 2016, two Chinese fighters carried out a similar intercept of a US military aircraft over the South China Sea.

At the time, the US military said its maritime reconnaissance aircraft was carrying out a routine patrol in the area.

In 2001, a Chinese jet and a US Navy surveillance aircraft collided off Hainan Island, killing the Chinese pilot.

The US spy plane was forced to make an emergency landing on the island and China held the crew members for 11 days, sparking a major diplomatic standoff. </s> The incident took place in international airspace last week as the plane carried out "a routine U.S. patrol", the Pentagon said.

A U.S. defense official said two Chinese J-11 fighter jets flew within 50 feet (15 meters) of the U.S. EP-3 aircraft. The official said the incident took place east of Hainan island.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a monthly news briefing China's aircraft acted completely professionally and in line with an agreement reached between the countries on rules governing such encounters.

However, he said the agreement, called the Rules of Behaviour for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters, could only provide a "technical standard", and the best way of resolving the problem was for the U.S. to stop such flights.

"That's the real source of danger for Sino-U.S. military safety at sea and in the air," he said.

The encounter came shortly after China scrambled fighter jets as a U.S. Navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

Another Chinese intercept took place in 2014 when a Chinese fighter pilot flew acrobatic maneuvers around a U.S. spy plane.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

Washington has accused Beijing of militarizing the South China Sea after creating artificial islands, while Beijing, in turn, has criticized increased U.S. naval patrols and exercises in Asia. </s> Two Japanese fighter jets took "provocative actions" at a high speed near a pair of Chinese fighter jets that were carrying out patrols in the East China Sea on June 17, China's defence ministry said in a microblog statement on Monday, without specifying where exactly the incident took place.

The Japanese planes used fire-control radar to "light up" the Chinese aircraft, the statement added.

Japan's senior military officer has acknowledged there was a scramble but has denied that any radar lock by the Chinese jet occurred or that the incident turned dangerous.

"The Japanese plane's provocative actions caused an accident in the air, endangering the safety of personnel on both sides, and destroying the peace and stability in the region," China's Defence Ministry said, adding the Chinese aircraft "responded resolutely".

China called on Japan to cease all provocative action, the statement added.

The statement about the incident comes after Japan's top military commander accused China of escalating military activity in the East China Sea, saying Japanese emergency scrambles to counter Chinese jets almost doubled over the past three months.

Japan is embroiled in a dispute with China in the East China Sea over ownership of a group of islands which lie about 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Taiwan, known as the Senkakus in Tokyo and the Diaoyu islands in Beijing.

Japan is worried that China is escalating its activity in the East China Sea in response to Tokyo's pledge to support countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Vietnam, that oppose China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. </s> Taiwan says its planes warned off Chinese military aircraft that crossed the center line in the Taiwan Strait, calling China's move a provocation seeking to alter the status quo in the waterway dividing the island from mainland China.

Taiwan's defense ministry said a pair of Chinese J-11 jet fighters crossed the line around 11 a.m. Sunday and entered the island's southwestern airspace. It said Taiwan scrambled jets to warn off the Chinese planes, which came within about 185 kilometers (115 miles) of the island itself.

The ministry said in a tweet that the Chinese planes "violated the long-held tacit agreement by crossing the median line" of the strait.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters that such acts sought to alter the status quo and threatened regional security and stability. </s> Japanese F-2 and F-15 fighters shadowed Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers during certain stages of the latter's planned flight over the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) Japanese F-2 and F-15 fighters shadowed Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers during certain stages of the latter's planned flight over the Pacific Ocean, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Japanese media reported that the a Russian bomber had twice illegally crossed the border of the Japanese airspace.

"Two Tu-95MS strategic bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a planned flight over the neutral waters of the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, South China Sea and western part of the Pacific Ocean .

.. During certain stages of the route the Russian planes were shadowed by Japanese F-2 and F-15 fighters," the ministry said in a statement adding that the flight lasted for more than 14 hours.

The ministry stressed that the flight was carried out in full accordance with international law, and the rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, without illegal crossing the Japanese airspace borders. </s> TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan said Monday its planes warned off Chinese military aircraft that crossed the centre line in the Taiwan Strait, and called China’s move a provocation that seeks to alter the status quo in the waterway dividing the island from mainland China.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said a pair of Chinese J-11 jet fighters crossed the line at around 11:00 a.m. Sunday and entered the island’s southwestern airspace. It said Taiwan scrambled jets to warn off the Chinese planes, which came within about 185 kilometres (115 miles) of Taiwan.

“Yesterday, Chinese military aircraft provoked us by violating the tacit agreement by crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait. They backed to the west side of the median line after warnings by our Air Force,” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in remarks at a military awards ceremony.

Foreign Ministry Joseph Wu told reporters at the legislature that the line crossing was an intentional act, calling it a provocative and dangerous. He said Taiwan had informed “regional partners” about the incident.

About 160 kilometres (100 miles) wide at its narrowest, the Taiwan Strait opens at its southern end into the South China Sea, where Taiwan and China share overlapping territorial claims. Since the sides split amid civil war in 1949, China has claimed Taiwan as its own territory to be absorbed by force if necessary.

Tsai, who Beijing despises for her pro-independence views, has sought to bolster Taiwan’s air power with the purchase of latest-model F-16V fighters from the U.S., Taiwan’s chief source of defensive weapons. </s> TAIPEI: Taipei hit out at China on Sunday (Mar 31) for what it said was a "reckless and provocative" incursion by two fighter jets across a largely respected line dividing the two sides in the Taiwan Strait.

The defence ministry said Taiwan scrambled its own aircraft on Sunday morning and broadcast warnings after two J-11 fighter jets crossed over the "median line" within the waters that separate the island from the mainland.

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"At 11 am, March 31, 2 PLAAF J-11 jets violated the long-held tacit agreement by crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter.

"It was an intentional, reckless and provocative action. We've informed regional partners and condemn China for such behavior," the ministry added.

China has ramped up the number of fighter and warship crossings near Taiwan or through the straits in recent years, rattling nerves on the island at a time when relations are at a low point.

But it is highly unusual for them to cross the so-called median line, a widely agreed upon boundary that passes through the middle of the straits.

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Taiwanese media said the last time Chinese jets had crossed the line was in 2011.

That incident was portrayed by both sides as an inadvertent mistake by two jets responding to a nearby US spy plane.

But on Sunday Taipei described the latest incursion as a deliberate act.

Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang called the flights "provocative and damaging the cross-straits status quo".

The flights come a week after the US sailed a destroyer and a coastguard ship through the Taiwan Strait, angering Beijing.

Although the straits are an international waterway China often hits out when US or other western navy ships pass through them.

Earlier this month Taiwan said it had made a formal request to the US for new fighter jets.

Since 2002, the US has repeatedly denied such requests, fearing a possible backlash from Beijing.

But in that time China has massively increased spending on its armed forces, including highly advanced fifth-generation jet fighters.

That has left Taiwan with an ageing airforce that analysts say is outgunned and in desperate need of an upgrade.

China has significantly stepped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since the Beijing-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, including staging a series of military exercises near the island.

She will be fighting for re-election in January 2020.

Last week Tsai made a brief stop in Hawaii to deliver a speech, prompting China to lodge an official protest with Washington. </s> June 21 (UPI) -- Russian bombers violated Japanese airspace, prompting a scramble of fighter planes to escort them away, Japan's defense ministry said.

Two Tu-95 bombers entered Japanese airspace near Minamidaito Island in Okinawa Prefecture on Thursday morning for about three minutes, and one later re-entered the airspace for about two minutes near Hachijo Island in the Izu island chain, the ministry said. It added no dangerous maneuvers were observed.

The planes were later seen flying southward from the Sea of Japan through the Tsushima Strait between Japan and South Korea in the morning.

A "stern protest" against Russia was lodged over the incident, the Japanese Foreign Ministry later said. Russia insisted that the planes did not violate Japan's airspace but flew over international waters during a 14-hour flight.

"Two strategic bombers Tupolev-95MS of Russia's Aerospace Force flew a routine mission in the airspace over the international waters of the Sea of Japan and the East China and South China seas as well as the western part of the Pacific Ocean," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday. "The flight was carried out in strict compliance with the international rules of using international airspace, without any violations of the borders of other states."

Japan did not report the number of fighter planes it used to divert the Russian planes.

A report by Japan's Defense Ministry said its fighter jets had scrambled nearly 1,000 times against foreign aircraft approaching Japanese airspace in the year ending on March 31. Over 340 incidents involved Russian aircraft and 638 involved Chinese planes, it said.
Two Chinese aircraft intercept a US WC-135 aircraft over the East China Sea.