U.S. and Chinese military officials are set to meet to discuss military behavior at the Pentagon this week, not long after U.S. condemned a Chinese jet for intercepting its Navy patrol plane.

The meeting was planned before the recent incident took place, since close intercepts between the two countries' military planes had previously occurred, a U.S. defense official said. Thus, the meeting's agenda involves multilateral behavioral standards for air and maritime activities, involving not just U.S. and China.

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Among the U.S. military officials to attend the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday is Rear Admiral James Foggo. China has not announced who is attending on its behalf.

At the core of the United States' concern is that China's military conduct could bring forth a larger crisis in the disputed sea, the official explained. For example, in several unpleasant incidents, China's claim on the large part of the South China Sea has sparked protests from U.S. allies Vietnam and the Philippines.

Although both China and the U.S. tried to improve contacts in recent years, the number of intercepts this year shows that the efforts did not eliminate hostility between them.

In the most recent encounter, a Chinese fighter jet barrel rolled over a U.S. P-8 Poseidon. It also flew 10 yards from the reconnaissance plane, wingtip-to-wingtip.

While the U.S. denounced China's recent military behavior, China criticized the U.S. for performing a major and regular "close-in reconnaissance" near the Chinese territory. It also denied any offense, based on reports.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki retorted that the U.S. operation was transparent.

The U.S. severed ties with China after a Chinese F-8 collided with a U.S. EP-3E plane in 2001. The Chinese pilot was killed while the U.S. plane was forced to land on Chinese territory.

The American crew was detained until President George W. Bush's administration apologized to China.

TagsU.S., jet intercept, James Foggo, military officials, Jen Psaki, President George W. Bush