A Chinese SU-27 fighter flew within 50 meters of a U.S. Navy P-8 aircraft over the East China Sea on Monday, in a move that U.S. officials said underscores China's growing aggression in the region.

According to a defense official with knowledge of the incident, the Navy's new Boeing P-8 combat aircraft was conducting a routine surveillance mission off the Chinese coast when the SU-27 approached the P-8 and barrel rolled on top of the aircraft.

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The barrel roll, an air combat maneuver historically known as "dogfighting," was carried out with the intent to threaten the U.S. aircraft, officials said.

U.S. officials noted the P-8 had been conducting surveillance in international airspace and was therefore not in violation of Chinese or international law.

They added that Monday's incident was a step above China's usual operating intercepts, noting that Beijing's past encounters had been more "professional."

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool said the agency would issue a statement on the matter on Friday.

China military affairs analyst Rick Fisher said He said the move was intended to warn the U.S. against surveillance in the region that could possibly lead to a scenario reminiscent of the April 2001 incident.

In April 2001, a Chinese interceptor had crashed into a U.S. surveillance jet off China's southern coast. The surveillance plane had been forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan Island. Twenty-four American crew members had been detained in China at the time, triggering an international crisis, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

The Boeing P-8 intercepted by the SU-27 on Monday is part of the Navy's fleet of sub-hunters deployed in Asia on December, a month after China's declaration of an air defense identification zone that impinges on Japan's and South Korea's defense zones.

In July, a similar incident occurred when a Russian approached a U.S. Air Force RC-135 while conducting surveillance in the Baltic Sea.

he U.S. jet had sought to avoid a confrontation and accidentally encroached in Swedish airspace. While the matter of encroachment has since been resolved, U.S. officials are now claiming the Pentagon's lack of response may have encouraged the Chinese to carry out the intercept on Monday.

TagsU.S., maritime dispute, air defense identification zone, airspace