China accuses U.S. of serious military provocation

China has accused the United States of “serious provocation” after it flew B-52 bombers near one of the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Military personnel on the island and reef went on high alert and warned the aircraft to leave, the Chinese Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Two American B-52 bombers also flew near the artificial islands last month.

“We once again urge the United States to seriously reflect upon and correct its mistakes, take effective measures to prevent similar unsafe and provocative actions, and stop any move that may undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests and affect the peace and stability of South China Sea”, Hong said.

The Pentagon said it was looking into the complaint.

In an effort to consolidate its claim, China has been piling sand on the reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands archipelago before adding buildings, ports and airstrips big enough to handle bombers and fighter jets.

Beijing filed a formal diplomatic complaint and its Foreign Ministry said it would take “necessary measures, including the imposition of sanctions against companies participating in the arms sale to Taiwan”.

Urban acknowledged that China had raised concerns about the flight path of a recent training mission.

A Defense Ministry statement said the U.S.is deliberately raising tensions in the disputed region.

“The US has continuously sent military ships and planes to make a show of force and create tensions in the waters and airspace of the South China Sea”. For its part, the USA asserts that it do not recognise China’s claims over the SCS.

Navy Commander Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesperson, said the United States regularly conducts B-52 training missions throughout the region but there was no plan for the B-52 to fly within 12 nautical miles of any artificial island.

Subi is one of the reefs China has built into artificial islands to help stake its claim to sovereignty.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits can not be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs. It complicates and even militarizes the regional situation in the South China Sea.

Beijing demanded the deal be scrapped to avoid harming relations across the Taiwan Strait and between China and the US.