-
Tips for becoming a good boxer - November 6, 2020
-
7 expert tips for making your hens night a memorable one - November 6, 2020
-
5 reasons to host your Christmas party on a cruise boat - November 6, 2020
-
What to do when you’re charged with a crime - November 6, 2020
-
Should you get one or multiple dogs? Here’s all you need to know - November 3, 2020
-
A Guide: How to Build Your Very Own Magic Mirror - February 14, 2019
-
Our Top Inspirational Baseball Stars - November 24, 2018
-
Five Tech Tools That Will Help You Turn Your Blog into a Business - November 24, 2018
-
How to Indulge on Vacation without Expanding Your Waist - November 9, 2018
-
5 Strategies for Businesses to Appeal to Today’s Increasingly Mobile-Crazed Customers - November 9, 2018
Pentagon: US Bomber Flew Near Chinese-Built Island in South China Sea
“I know that we conduct B-52 flights in the worldwide airspace in that part of the world all the time”, said Peter Cook, the spokesman.
Advertisement
Chinese ground controllers twice contacted the bombers but the aircraft completed their flight undeterred, he added.
In response to this, Hong said that China would stay committed to peacefully resolving disputes over territory and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
The White House had approved the movement by the USS Lassen, which sailed around Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands archipelago, a disputed group of hundreds of reefs, islets, atolls and islands in the South China, said a U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The USA view has always been that such disputes should be resolved through peaceful, legal means, and that the establishment and implementation of a code of conduct agreed to among the countries in the region and, in particular, the claimants, would be a positive step forward, she said.
Their mission continued despite being warned by Chinese ground controllers. It also overlaps claims from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Shortly after the Lassen cruise, China released photos of armed J-11 fighter jets deployed to Woody Island, an outpost in the disputed Paracel Islands group.
China first began building islands on top of partially submerged reefs about two years ago, but has become increasingly assertive in claiming ownership of the area.
U.S. and Chinese warships and aircraft regularly communicate when operating near each other in Asian waters, USA military officials say.
After summit talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Obama also said he expects South Korea to “speak out” when China violates worldwide norms.
Officially, China and Indonesia do not contest the sovereignty of the Natuna Islands: both agree they are part of Indonesia’s Riau Islands province.
“We are quite concerned about protecting freedom of navigation, the free flow of commerce in the South China Sea”, Earnest told reporters. “In this regard, the Chinese side expresses extreme dissatisfaction and strongly protests”, a statement posted on China’s Foreign Ministry website read.
Advertisement
In flying near the islands, the USA is asserting by air what it has already attempted to underscore by sea. That’s a big if, though, given how much President Xi Jinping has embedded the nine-dash line into China’s psyche of a resurgent regional power.