China says it tailed a US spy plane through the sensitive Taiwan Strait

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese warplanes tailed a U.S. military aircraft through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, China’s military said.

The U.S. aircraft was a P-8A Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance plane, capable of conducting long-range anti-submarine warfare, according to a statement by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command.

Chinese military forces “organized warplanes to tail and monitor the U.S. aircraft’s flight and handled it in accordance with the law,” said Li Xi, a senior colonel and spokesperson for the command.

“Theater command troops will remain on constant high alert and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability,” he added.