The Defense Ministry accused the US of intentionally raising tensions within the disputed region, where China has-been aggressively asserting its claims to almost all islands, reefs & their surrounding seas.
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The ministry demanded the United States immediately adopt measures to prevent such unsafe actions in order to prevent damaging relations between the two militaries and countries.
The ministry also said it would take whatever measures were necessary to protect China’s sovereignty and security.
China claims nearly all of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion (S$7 trillion) of maritime trade passes each year.
According to Japanese government officials, Japan will deploy several thousand new troops and missile batteries on islands in the East China Sea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has linked building islands in the South China Sea to national pride, which is at the center of the nation’s resurgence as a military power.
The incident is diplomatically awkward for the White House, which is trying to maintain stable ties with the world’s No. 2 economy while responding to pressure from USA allies in Asia, as well as the Pentagon and Congress, to push back against Beijing’s recent military assertiveness.
Many regional countries – including the Philippines and Vietnam – deny China’s claim to most of the South China Sea, but Beijing has rapidly reclaimed land and expanded the islets to build airports, runways and other constructions.
Urban said the flight was not a “freedom of navigation” operation, suggesting the flight could have strayed off course. “We are looking into the matter”, he reportedly said.
In that operation, the United States sent a warship, the USS Lassen, close to one of China’s artificial islands.
“China takes the incident seriously”, Hong said.
“In the morning of December 10, two US B-52 bombers entered airspace over the Chinese Nansha islands and nearby areas without authorisation”, China’s defence ministry said, using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.
“The Chinese have raised concerns with us about the flight path of a recent B-52 training mission”, Capt Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said yesterday.
Countries in the region are being forced to finance their navies beyond what is needed for self-defence, he said, implying that this was heightening the risk of an arms race.
The United States, while not directly involved in the territorial feud although bound by a defense treaty with the Philippines, has repeatedly emphasized that ships should have freedom of navigation in the waterways.
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Last May, the United States flew over the islands, triggering warnings from the Chinese navy. “The South China Sea is not – and will not be – an exception”.
