Two US B-52 bombers flew over a disputed area of the East China sea without notifying Beijing.
US warplanes have directly challenged China’s claims of an expanding territorial air defense zone, flying dramatically and without incident on Monday over a disputed island chain.
The incursion comes on the heels of a scathing statement over the weekend by defense secretary Chuck Hagel rejecting the expansion of the Chinese air defense zone into the East China sea as a provocative threat to regional stability.
But the Pentagon insisted Tuesday that the overflight was not a reaction to the Chinese declaration.
Lieutenant colonel Tom Crosson, a Defense Department spokesman, said the planes were not armed and flew “as part of a long-planned training sortie”. The Chinese did not in any way attempt to challenge the planes’ flight, Crosson said, nor did the pilots announce themselves to any Chinese authorities.
Read More: US warplanes defy Chinese air defence rules with B-52 flyover of disputed area | World news | theguardian.com
US warplanes have directly challenged China’s claims of an expanding territorial air defense zone, flying dramatically and without incident on Monday over a disputed island chain.
The incursion comes on the heels of a scathing statement over the weekend by defense secretary Chuck Hagel rejecting the expansion of the Chinese air defense zone into the East China sea as a provocative threat to regional stability.
But the Pentagon insisted Tuesday that the overflight was not a reaction to the Chinese declaration.
Lieutenant colonel Tom Crosson, a Defense Department spokesman, said the planes were not armed and flew “as part of a long-planned training sortie”. The Chinese did not in any way attempt to challenge the planes’ flight, Crosson said, nor did the pilots announce themselves to any Chinese authorities.
Read More: US warplanes defy Chinese air defence rules with B-52 flyover of disputed area | World news | theguardian.com
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