China: US Conducted ‘Serious Military Provocation’

China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. is deliberately raising tensions in the disputed region where China has been aggressively asserting its claims to virtually all islands, reefs, and their surrounding seas. The official said the United States believed the plane was somewhat farther away but had mistakenly come within 12 nautical miles.

The Chinese military kept strict surveillance and remained on high alert for USA bombers’ flight on December 10, and warned and expelled the bombers, he said. “China will continue to commit herself to peace in the region and the common sea”, the Chinese ambassador said.

Hence, China is fully justified in demanding that the Pentagon seriously delve into the incident, produce a convincing explanation and take measures to prevent such overflights in future.

US Representative Scott DesJarlais noted the South China Sea peace initiative proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in May, which reiterates Taiwan’s position of shelving disputes and promoting joint resource development in the contested waters – to which Taiwan lays claim – and Taiwan’s inauguration of a newly constructed lighthouse and renovated wharf on Itu Aba this month. Washington has said that worldwide law does not give China any territorial rights around the new, artificially built islands. We know there are B-52 bombers deployed on the United States island of Guam in the western Pacific.

A senior US defense official told The Wall Street Journal that bad weather may have contributed to the pilot flying off course and into the area where China claims. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims.

The Chinese government has issued a stern warning to the United States, suggesting its most recent actions in the South China Sea are turning the area into a militarized zone. If the bomber did fly into the area as a “provocation”, it wouldn’t be the first time that the US made a bold move on the questionable Chinese territory.

Washington has said China’s transformation of the geographical features in the Spratly Islands poses a threat to freedom of navigation in the critical body of water. China claims whole of the South China Sea.

The latest tension over the South China Sea comes a week after the USA approved a $1.8 billion (1.65 billion euros) arms deal to Taiwan for warships, missiles and amphibious assault vehicles.

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”.

The U.S.is among a few countries that have vehemently criticized China’s lawful right to build on its reefs and islets, and the USS Lassen incident marks heightened U.S. efforts to interfere in the issue.