China accuses US of serious military provocation

China is accusing the USA of a serious military provocation following the flight of an American B-52 strategic bomber over a Chinese-controlled man-made island in 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’s Defense Ministry called the flight and other USA military operations in the South China Sea “serious military provocations” that could cause militarization in the region. “We demand the United States to take necessary actions to prevent such events from happening, and avoid damages to the military-to-military relations between the two countries”, the ministry said.

China has repeatedly said, in President Xi’s words, it is “committed to respecting and upholding the freedom of navigation and overflight that countries enjoy according to worldwide law”.

China has been aggressively asserting its claims to virtually all man-made islands in the South China Sea, reefs and their surrounding seas.

Six members in the U.S. House of Representatives recently expressed support for Taiwan’s initiatives in the South China Sea, including its peace proposal and efforts to make Taiping Island a hub for humanitarian assistance and scientific research. Urban also noted that this was “not a Freedom of Navigation operation”.

Taiwan’s representative office in the US said the remarks shows US Congress support Taiwan as a peacemaker in the South China Sea.

The bone of contention between China and the USA stems from the fact that the former claiming the territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea and the latter claiming its right to maintain the freedom of navigation in the global waters.

In this context, the neighbors of China have legitimate concerns, as China hopes that each island lets it claim the waters within a radius of 12 nautical miles as its own – a precarious development.

Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, a Defense Department spokesman, said B-52 bombers routinely conduct training missions throughout the area.

During a mission by the two B-52 bombers last week, one of the aircraft unintentionally flew within two nautical miles of an artificially constructed island.

A report in the Wall St Journal said there were two B52s that flew perhaps due to bad weather and to the assignment.

China’s latest protest comes amid a simmering dispute over Washington’s approval of the first arms package offered to Beijing’s self-governing rival Taiwan in four years.

In an effort to consolidate its claim, China has been piling sand on the reefs and atolls in the Spratly Islands archipelago before adding buildings, ports and airstrips big enough to handle bombers and fighter jets.

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