A United States B-52 bomber mistakenly flew within two nautical miles of Chinese-claimed territory in the South China Sea last week, Pentagon officials said on Friday.
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The so-called Stratofortress bombers flew over the islands December 10, putting Chinese military personal on high alert.
He said the United States routinely conducts B-52 training missions over the South China Sea.
Such actions have severely threatened the safety of Chinese personnel and facilities as well as peace and stability of the region, it said.
China, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea, has stepped up a program of land reclamation and construction in the disputed islands and reefs, which has sparked concern in the USA and the Asia-Pacific region.
The ministry urged the U.S.to adopt measures “immediately” to prevent “such risky actions”.
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.
Freedom of navigation operations around the artificial islands appear to contradict Washington’s assertions that they have no right to territorial waters in the first place, Critics in the United States have said.
It was the second time US B-52 bombers flew near the heavily disputed islands in an exercise the U.S. described as a freedom of navigation operations and came two weeks after the Royal Australian Air Force carried out the surveillance flight on November 25. However, Washington insists on freedom of navigation and maintains that China’s seven newly created islands do not enjoy traditional rights including a 12-nautical mile (22-kilometer) territorial limit.
“For this mission there was no intention of flying within 12 nautical miles of any feature”, said Commander Bill Urban, a Defense Department spokesman.
“But we never allow anyone to infringe upon China’s sovereignty and undermine China’s security interests with the excuse of flight and navigation freedom, “the spokesperson said”. We are looking to ensure that there is a regional consensus to ensure that there is no further militarization of these outposts.
Beijing is also involved in a separate dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade ships every year, a fifth of it heading to and from US ports.
The main contractor behind the weaponry is Raytheon.
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In a front page story, the Chinese defence newspaper said the drill was carried out on Wednesday across “several thousand sq km” of waters somewhere in the South China Sea.
