Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

After initially refusing to provide details, the Pentagon on Tuesday confirmed that a Chinese jet made an unsafe pass near a U.S. RC-135 surveillance jet last week.

“I can confirm for you that the department’s reviewing a report that came in from [U.S. Pacific Command] regarding a Sept. 15 intercept of a U.S. RC-135 by an aircraft from the People’s Republic of China,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook told reporters. …

Cook said the RC-135 was flying some 80 miles east of the Shandong Peninsula over the Yellow Sea when the Chinese aircraft conducted an intercept that “was perceived as unsafe by the RC-135 air crew.” …

Asked to explain what was unsafe about the encounter, Cook saidd: “My understanding is, and I don’t have all the details, but the pilot believed that the plane passed in an unsafe fashion in front of the plane,” Cook said, noting that it was not similar to the earlier event.

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