WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday recent dangerous encounters between U.S. and Chinese forces in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea reflect a growing aggressiveness by Beijing's military that raises the risk of an error in which "somebody gets hurt."
It also follows a May 26 incident in which a Chinese fighter jet carried out what the United States called an "unnecessarily aggressive" maneuver near an American military plane over the South China Sea in international airspace.
"Sadly, this is just part of, again, a growing aggressiveness by the PRC (People's Republic of China) that we're dealing with, and we're prepared to address it," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters amid deteriorating ties between Washington and Beijing.
In Beijing, Wang Wenbin, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said that "the measures taken by the Chinese military are completely reasonable, legitimate, and professional and safe."
Kirby said the United States would continue to stand up for the freedom of navigation in the air and sea.
Persons:
we're, John Kirby, Kirby, Wang Wenbin, Heck, it's, Vedant Patel, Joe Biden's, Biden, Patel, Chung, Hoon, Wang, Derek Grossman, Andrea Shalal, Daphne Psaledakis, Matt Spetalnick, Jasper Ward, Will Dunham
Organizations:
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Locations:
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