China Accuses US of ‘Serious Military Provocation’ Over B-52 Fly By

Two US B-52 bombers flew close to islands in the flashpoint South China Sea last week in a “serious military provocation”, Beijing said today, as tensions simmer in the disputed waterway.

China claims sovereignty over nearly the whole of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

“In the morning of 10 December, two US B-52 bombers entered airspace over the Chinese Nansha islands and nearby areas without authorisation”, the statement said.

“The actions by the USA side were a serious military provocation, creating complex conditions in the South China Sea and even militarization in the region”, read a statement from the Chinese defense ministry.

The Daily Mail reports that China is not happy after learning that a U.S. B-52 bomber flew within 12 nautical miles of the Spratlys in the South China Sea.

But, the United Nations will not recognise such artificial islands -nautical mile sea limit states can claim for sovereign territory.

“We conduct B-52 flights in worldwide air space in that part of the world all the time”, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in November.

The Chinese Defence Ministry demanded that Washington take action to prevent a similar incident occurring. The statement came after two American bombers flew into China’s territory in the South China Sea.

The Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi attends a news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a meeting in Berlin, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015.

The revelation of the over-flight is drawing a high-level Chinese response. “Freedom of navigation is necessary for Japan and South Korea that import most of their energy over the oceans of the Indo-Pacific region”, Mr. Madhav said, while indicating that he supported some fresh policy changes in dealing with China’s claims in the Southeast Asian region.

Critics in the United States say freedom of navigation operations around the man-made islands appear to contradict Washington’s assertions that they have no right to territorial waters in the first place.

Dismissing concerns that China might obstruct free navigation in the South China Sea, taking advantage of its territorial and maritime claims, Mr. Le said China’s claims were historically accurate and, therefore, could not be disputed.

On Wednesday, 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 main contractor behind the weaponry is Raytheon.

On Oct. 27, Washington infuriated Beijing when the US Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 21 kilometers of at least one artificial island built by China.