Stop spy flights, China warns the U.S.

China has warned the United States to end its military surveillance flights near Chinese territory, rejecting claims by Washington that a Chinese fighter jet made several "dangerous" and "unprofessional" passes at a U.S. Navy plane last week.

The U.S. should take "concrete measures" towards ending reconnaissance operations off the coast of China if it wants to improve bilateral ties between the two countries, a spokesperson for China's Defense Ministry, Yang Yujun, said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

On August 19, a Chinese fighter jet intercepted a U.S. Navy Poseidon patrol plane in the South China Sea about 135 miles east of the Chinese island of Hainan, coming as close as 20 feet at one point, according to the Pentagon.

The armed Chinese aircraft crossed close beneath the P-8 Poseidon three times, according to U.S. Defense Department spokesman Rear. Adm. John Kirby, who described the maneuvers as "pretty aggressive, very unprofessional."