WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On June 7, two Chinese jets intercepted the US reconnaissance aircraft during a flight in the international airspace over the East China Sea.
"The initial assessment from the Department of Defense is that this intercept and its unsafe nature appears to be the case of… improper airmanship," Earnest stated. "There was no other provocative or unsafe maneuvers that were executed."
Earnest added that the US authorities will raise their concerns with the Chinese government through "usual military channels."
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing strongly urged the United States to stop carrying out reconnaissance flights near Chinese airspace which undermine the Asian country's security at sea.
