South China Sea: US bomber angers Beijing with Spratly islands flypast

The area in the South China Sea is one of questionable sovereignty as the Chinese stake claim to portions of the sea while Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan also make claims to the area.

“In the morning of 10 December, two US B-52 bombers entered air space over the Chinese Nansha islands and nearby areas without authorization”, Beijing’s defence ministry said, using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.

China’s Defense Ministry said earlier the US was deliberately raising tensions in the region, where China has been aggressively asserting its claims to most of the man-made reefs in the sea.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the B-2 bombers flying within two nautical miles of the artificial island build by the Chinese in South China Sea was unintentional and has ordered an investigation into it.

“The United States routinely conducts B-52 training missions throughout the region, including over the South China Sea”, Wright said in an email to The Associated Press.

In October, the US sent a warship into the region as part of a direct challenge to China’s territorial claims.

“The issue with the United States has to do with the fact that the South China Sea is widely believed to contain a fair number of reserves regarding oil and natural gas and of course, obviously, the United States wants access to this oil and natural gas”, said Preston, chief editor and director of AttacktheSystem.com. However, Washington maintains that China’s seven newly created islands do not enjoy traditional rights including a 12-nautical mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit.

Issuing a more diplomatic response, China’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the situation in the South China Sea was stable and that outside countries should avoid manufacturing tensions. It was not clear if the decision was made after the B-52 bombers flew into China’s airspace. Bill Urban as saying in Washington that China had raised its complaints over the flight and that the US was investigating.

It must be stressed that China has always respected and safeguarded every country’s flight and navigation freedom around the world in line with global laws, Hong said.

Subi Reef is an artificial island built up by China over the past year.

The bombers are just the latest incident causing friction with US-China relations.

The main contractor behind the weaponry is Raytheon.