China hits out over US bombers’ isles flight
CHINA HAS lashed out at the US after a pair of B-52 bombers flew past a Chinese-held shoal in the South China Sea, amid escalating tensions between the two major Pacific powers.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned the US against “hyping up militarisation and stirring up trouble”, while promising that China would take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty.
The US “doing whatever they want is risky, and China will not be threatened by any military warships”, Ms Hua told reporters in Beijing.
This week’s fly-by near Scarborough Shoal, which China took from the Philippines in 2012, came after US defence secretary Jim Mattis accused Beijing of “intimidation and coercion” in the South China Sea.
China claims almost the entirety of the sea – resource-rich waters that include some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes despite overlapping claims from neighbours including the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Speaking at a summit of top security officials in Singapore last weekend, Mr Mattis said China has deployed anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles and landed nuclear capable bombers on the disputed islands.
He vowed that the Indo-Pacific would remain a “priority theatre” for US forces.
Last month, China announced it had dispatched warships to drive away two US Navy vessels sailing close to Chinese holdings in the Paracel Island chain, where China recently announced it had landed strategic bombers on an airstrip for the first time.