WATCH: US Navy plane confronted and warned by Chinese fighter jet over South China Sea

Chinese fighter jet confronted a US Navy plane amid simmering tension between Washington and Beijing, US media outlets reported on Friday (February 24).

The reports stated that the US Navy plane received a warning over the radio when it had been in the air over the South China Sea for a few hours.

The US plane was 30 miles from the contested Paracel Islands, which is a group of about 130 small atolls - a disputed archipelago. CNN reported that the biggest of which is home to Chinese military bases.

CNN also said that its crew got rare access aboard the US flight and witnessed the incident when it happened.

The voice from a ground station, which is said to be belonging to China’s air force said, "American aircraft. Chinese airspace is 12 nautical miles. Not approaching any more or you bear all responsibility."

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The US jet was also intercepted by a Chinese J-11 fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles just after a few minutes. The Chinese jet appeared about 500 feet off the left wing and it flew beside the American P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for over an hour.

NBC News also said that it was on board the US aircraft when the incident happened. Weighing on the incident, Capt. Will Toraason, who is the commander of US Navy surveillance aircraft, told NBC News that once a Chinese plane comes within 1,000 feet "we'll communicate with them".

He said, "Typically we don’t get a response, sometimes we’ll get nonverbal responses. But overall we’re trying to encourage a safe and professional encounter while we’re both operating in international airspace."

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea grab the attention of the world. It involves conflicting island and maritime claims in the region by several sovereign states, namely Brunei, China Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

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