China, Japan blame each other for jet encounter

In this undated photo released by Japan Ministry of Defense, Chinese SU-27 fighter plane is shown. China and Japan are blaming each other for a close encounter between military jets over the East China Sea. China’s defense ministry says Japanese F-15 fighters followed a Chinese TU-154 plane on regular patrol Wednesday, June 11, 2014 and got as close as 30 meters (100 feet). Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Wednesday that two Chinese SU-27 fighters had posed a danger to Japanese aircraft by flying near them.  AP

BEIJING — China and Japan are blaming each other for a close encounter between military jets over the East China Sea.

China’s defense ministry says Japanese F-15 fighters followed a Chinese TU-154 plane on regular patrol Wednesday and got as close as 30 meters (100 feet). It released two videos Thursday on its website purporting to show the incident that it said had “seriously affected” the safety of the Chinese plane.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Wednesday that two Chinese SU27 fighters had posed a danger to Japanese aircraft by flying near them.

The two countries have increased patrols by ships and military planes to press their conflicting territorial claims in the East China Sea. They had a similar incident on May 24.