Chinese J-11 fighters 'intercept' US reconnaissance aircraft over South China Sea | IHS Jane's...

This is not the first time Chinese fighters have dangerously intercepted US aircraft flying in the area. In 2001 a mid-air collision occurred between a US Navy EP-3E Aries II and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) fighter off China's Hainan Island, which resulted in a major diplomatic crisis.

Over a decade later, in August 2014, the DoD accused another Chinese fighter of "conducting a dangerous intercept" of a US Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flying about 135 miles east of Hainan Island.

Back then the US filed a complaint with the Chinese embassy in Washington, calling the actions of the Chinese aircraft "unsafe and unprofessional" and "inconsistent with customary international law".

To prevent a repetition of the so-called 'Hainan incident' China and the US began talks shortly after aimed at developing a code of conduct for military behaviour in the waters and airspace of the SCS.