China’s defense ministry accused the United States of violating international law and of “slander and hype”. The comments came following a confrontation between a Chinese fighter jet and an American reconnaissance plane over the contested waters of the South China Sea. Tian Julin, a spokesperson for China’s defense ministry, said that the US Indo-Pacific Command had distorted facts about the incident and that it was the US aircraft that had engaged in “dangerous maneuvers” against the Chinese jet.
