A US warplane narrowly avoided colliding with a Chinese fighter jet flying just meters above the South China Sea, the US military announced in a statement on Thursday, News.ro reported.

The incident occurred on December 21 when the pilot of a Chinese Navy J-11 fighter jet “made a dangerous maneuver while approaching a US RC-135 aircraft”, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command, which also provided video from the US aircraft.

The Chinese pilot flew in front of the US reconnaissance aircraft less than six meters from the plane’s nose, “causing the RC-135 to perform evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision”, the US military said.

The RC-135 aircraft “was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace,” the US command said.

The quasi-clash comes as China, which considers the island of Taiwan part of its territory it will one day claim, has recently begun a show of force.

Late last week, Taipei authorities accused Beijing of deploying 71 fighter jets for military maneuvers around Taiwan, including 60 fighter jets. It was one of the largest raids ever to take place during the day.

The Chinese military said the exercises were a response to “provocations” and “conspiracy” between the US and the island’s authorities. More than 1,700 such raids have taken place this year, compared with 969 in 2021, according to an AFP database.