“Two Chinese jet fighters made what military officials called a dangerous interception with an U.S. spy plane a week ago,” according to The Wall Street Journal , “just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to be received at the White House.”  

“The incident occurred on Sept. 15 over the Yellow Sea when two JH-7 Chinese fighters came within 500 feet of the nose of an American surveillance plane known as an RC-135. The U.S. plane was conducting a routine patrol in international airspace about 80 miles off China’s Shandong peninsula… U.S. Pacific Command deemed the intercept ‘unsafe’ and an investigation is under way at the Pentagon.”  

“The incident came as Chinese President Xi prepared for a series of high-level meetings with President Barack Obama and others during a U.S. visit… While unsafe air encounters are normally considered serious by the Pentagon, military officials said the incident didn’t alarm them since it appeared to be more of an exception than a trend. The incident is the first dangerous intercept of a U.S. plane by the Chinese military since 2014.”