US bombers in show of force over Korea
IN perfect alignment, thousands of troops take part in China’s latest show of strength yesterday – as the US also flexed its muscles in the region.
The military parade in Inner Mongolia came as Donald Trump criticised China for failing to crack down on its ally North Korea.
Frustrated that China has not reined the hardline state in, the US President tweeted that he was ‘very disappointed’ because China does ‘NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk’.
In its own display of might – designed to intimidate North Korea over its intercontinental ballistic missile tests – the US flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean peninsula yesterday.
The B-1 bombers performed a lowpass over South Korea before returning to their base in Guam.
Analysts say North Korea’s latest test on Friday showed that Los Angeles, Chicago and other US cities were in range of Pyongyang’s weapons.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the midnight launch, and said it was a ‘stern warning’ for the US not to attack.
On Saturday, the US announced it had successfully tested its Thaad anti-missile system. It said a medium-range ballistic missile was launched from a plane over the Pacific, and the Thaad system – which is based in Alaska – detected, tracked and intercepted it.