The American diplomat recalled that US planes flew in "international airspace" and "performed regular operations" when the Chinese pilot took "dangerous actions, approaching very, very close."
"In recent months, there has been a whole series of such actions directed not only against us, but against other countries," TASS quoted Blinken as saying.
He expressed regret that there is no progress in organizing a meeting between Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Li Shanfu at the Singapore Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, which is scheduled for early June.
As previously stated in the Ministry of Defense of the People's Republic of China, the actions of the Chinese pilots of the J-16 fighter in relation to the American RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea were legal and professional.
At the same time, the Indo-Pacific Command of the US Armed Forces does not agree with this assessment of what happened, they claim that the Chinese fighter made an "unnecessarily aggressive maneuver."