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USA bombers flew near Chinese-built island in South China Sea: Pentagon

The flight came after China recently deployed advanced J-11 fighter aircraft to Woody Island, one of its five manmade islands.

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Other South China Sea watchers have drawn several new inferences from the details now available. “Doing things like building lighthouses as opposed to runways or barracks allows them to make the argument they are providing public goods”, Sullivan told Bloomberg.

Beijing’s claim to nearly the entire resource-rich sea is shown on Chinese maps with a nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Especially given Vietnam’s warm overtures to Mr. Xi earlier in the day, the move will likely antagonize China.

China however remains adamant and through the years built lighthouses over the disputed region under the guise that it wants to help ships navigating the area. But as pointed out by Bloomberg, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, such terrains do not warrant a 12-mile territorial zone.

The B-52 flight follows a presence patrol by the U.S. Navy last month when the USS Lassen sailed within 12-nautical miles of the Spratly archipelago.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “The actions of the USA warship have threatened China’s sovereignty and security interests, jeopardised the safety of personnel and facilities on the reefs, and damaged regional peace and stability”.

The overflight took place overnight on November 8-9, another Pentagon spokesman Bill Urban specified, saying there were two bombers conducting a “routine mission”. “That has not been clarified”, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said.

A US treaty ally, the Philippines has strongly contested China’s territorial assertions. “They’ll know we mean business”. She further suggested that a “fair and proper solution” could serve as a model for others in the region facing similar problems.

When China announced in October that it had completed two lighthouses on two Spratly features – Cuarteron Reef and Johnson Reef – it sparked an angry response from the Philippines.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it wasn’t clear whether the South China Sea would be on the summits’ formal agenda, but added it would be “on the minds and lips” of world leaders who gather there.

Last summer general Moeldoko, the commander in chief of Indonesia’s armed forces, took to the Wall Street Journal to express (paywall) Indonesia’s surprise about China’s claims.

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A USA official told The Hill that two bombers made one pas within 12 nautical miles of the islands in what the military refers to as a “freedom of navigation” operation.

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