China urges United States to ‘reflect and correct its mistake’

China has accused the USA of a serious military provocation following the flight of an American B-52 strategic bomber over a Beijing-controlled man-made island in the South China Sea. “This was not a freedom of navigation operation”, he said, adding that the USA routinely conducts B-52 training operations over the South China Sea.

The information office of the ministry said the Chinese military kept close surveillance on the bombers’ activities and gave it warnings.CCTV’s Jim Spellman has a timeline of previous incidents between the two countries in and above the waters off China.

During the mission by the two B-52 bombers, one of the aircraft unintentionally flew within two nautical miles of an artificially constructed island, the Wall Street Journal quoted Pentagon officials as saying Friday.

Yet, considering the us guided missile destroyer USS Lassen illegally entered waters near Zhubi Reef, part of China’s Nansha Islands, on Oct 28, on what the USA disingenuously called a “freedom of navigation” mission, it is only natural that many Chinese do not feel convinced by the Pentagon’s explanation.

It’s believed bad weather may have prompted one of the pilots to fly off course, the newspaper reported. The incident involving the B-52 bomber took place last week near the Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly archipelago.

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.

In response, Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. said the remarks represented the support of the U.S. Congress for Taiwan to play the role of a peacemaker in the South China Sea.

The U.S. takes no official stance on sovereignty claims in the strategically crucial sea, through which $5 trillion in global trade passes each year.

The U.S. uses pre-planned freedom of navigation operations to assert its rights to “innocent passage” in other country’s territorial waters. So, the USA think it’s high time the tendency nipped in the bud, although it is easier said than done.

Over the past years, China has reclaimed several islands in the area and built infrastructure on them capable of supporting combat missions of the Chinese Air Force.

China has been angered by the recent determination by the United States to approve a new arms package.

China is once again complaining that the United States violated its sovereign territory by coming near artificial islands in the South China Sea. US defense firms are forbidden to sell arms to China.

The South China Sea region continues to cause tension in US-China relations.