The White House on Monday accused China of "aggressive" military maneuvers leading to two near collisions with US forces and warned that "it won't be long before somebody gets hurt."

"That's the concern with these unsafe and unprofessional intercepts," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

He said: "These are part and parcel of an increasing level of aggressiveness by the PLA -- PRC's (People's Republic of China, ed) military. Particularly in the area of the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. The air intercept was over the South China Sea and the maritime intercept that you’re talking about was in the (Taiwan) Strait. And sadly, this is just part, again, of a growing aggressiveness by the PRC that we’re dealing with, and we’re prepared to address it."