China's foreign ministry calls on U.S. to stop close reconnaissance
None
BEIJING - China's Foreign Ministry called on the United States to stop close reconnaissance activities after the United States said two Chinese fighter jets carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a US military aircraft over the South China Sea.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regular briefing that the Chinese aircraft kept a safe distance from the US plane, which was flying close to China's island province of Hainan.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that the incident took place in international airspace on Tuesday as the US maritime patrol aircraft carried out "a routine US patrol"
