The incident came to light in a report aired by state broadcaster CCTV earlier this month. It said that the fighter had expelled two foreign aircraft last year and they had not been seen in the area since then.

Yue Gang, a military analyst and former PLA colonel, said the foreign aircraft were “highly likely” to be US fifth-generation F-22s rather than the F-35s frequently deployed in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to Yue, the J-16 was able to “lock on” to the stealth fighters because the PLA operates an “integrated combat system” that includes satellites, early warning aircraft and anti-stealth radars, rather than “relying solely on the aircraft itself”.

Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former PLA instructor, also said he believed the foreign warplanes were F-22s.

“Based on the report, the J-16 and the F-22s were within visual range, meaning that the F-22s were conducting close reconnaissance against China,” he said.