China accuses US of serious provocation by flying bombers

A United States B-52 bomber last week mistakenly flew within two nautical miles of a disputed artificial island built by China in the South China Sea, Pentagon officials said yesterday (Dec 18).

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the incident, said the B-52 bomber went as close as two nautical miles to a reef in the Spratly Islands, which the Chinese refer to as Nansha Islands.

China said the flights “make up a serious military provocation and so are leaving more complicated and even militarising states in the South China Sea”.

Such actions have severely threatened the safety of Chinese personnel and facilities as well as peace and stability of the region, it said.

“This behaviour is a serious military provocation which complicates the general situation in the South China Sea, (contributing) to the militarisation of the region”, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry also repeated previous assertions that it would take whatever necessary measures to protect China’s sovereignty and security.

The Australian Defence Department said Tuesday one of its aircraft had flown “a routine maritime patrol” over the South China Sea from November 25 to December 4, just as the U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander warned that a possible arms race could engulf the region.

There was no immediate Pentagon response to the latest Chinese protest.

Urban said the flight was not a “freedom of navigation” operation, suggesting the flight could have strayed off course.

“For this mission, there was no intention of flying to within 12 nautical miles”, said Cmdr.

The new islands created friction with the United States, which sails and flies its assets in the vicinity of the reclaimed islands, citing global law and freedom of movement.

The United States has previously argued for its right to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and is critical of China building artificial islands there.

The U.S. takes no official stance on sovereignty claims in the strategically crucial South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in global trade passes each year. We are looking to ensure that there is a regional consensus to ensure that there is no further militarization of these outposts.

The main contractor behind the weaponry is Raytheon.

The incident is diplomatically awkward for the White House, which is trying to maintain stable ties with the world’s No. 2 economy while responding to pressure from US allies in Asia, as well as the Pentagon and Congress, to push back against Beijing’s recent military assertiveness.