U.S. Provoked China With B-52 Flight Near Spratly Archipelago?

The Pentagon said on Friday it was looking at Chinese complaints that a B-52 bomber recently flew near a Chinese artificial island in the South China Sea, a sensitive issue because the two powers disagree over Beijing’s territorial claims in the region.

Navy Commander Bill Urban, a Pentagon spokesman, said the United States regularly conducts B-52 training missions throughout the region but there was no plan for the B-52 to fly within 12 nautical miles of any artificial island.

“This was not a Freedom of Navigation operation,” said Urban, referring to regular U.S. Navy missions conducted to challenge what the United States believes are excessive territorial claims made by other countries.

“The Chinese have raised concerns with us about the flight path of a recent training mission,” Urban said. “We are looking into the matter.”

China’s defense ministry said in a statement on its website on Saturday that its forces had closely monitored the plane and warned the aircraft to leave.

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