China says fighter jets' intercept of US plane 'safe'

China on Sunday denied the Pentagon's charge that an encounter between Chinese fighters and a US surveillance plane over the South China Sea was "unsafe and unprofessional".Tensions between the two economic superpowers have risen in recent years over the disputed waterway, which China claims almost in full despite counter-claims from other Asian nations.Chinese J-10 warplanes intercepted a US Navy P-3 that was operating in international airspace Wednesday, according to Pentagon spokesman Command