- Sep 12, 2009
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(CNN) -- Two U.S. military aircraft flew into China's newly claimed and challenged air defense zone over the East China Sea, a U.S. official said, an action that could inflame tensions between the world powers.
The U.S. Air Force B-52 planes -- which were not armed because they were on a training mission -- set off Monday from Guam and returned there without incident. The mission lasted for several hours, and the aircraft were in China's newly declared air zone for about an hour, according to the U.S. official.
The planes' pilots did not identify themselves upon entering the disputed airspace, as China would have wanted, according to the official.
The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The flights came two days after China unilaterally announced the creation of a "Air Defense Identification Zone" over several islands it and Japan have both claimed. The two countries have been sharply at odds over those isles, which are believed to be near large reserves of natural resources.
Washington responded negatively to what Secretary of State John Kerry characterized as an "escalatory action (that) will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident." The U.S. government has rallied around its ally Japan, where thousands of its troops are stationed as part of a security treaty.
And specifically regarding China's new air defense zone, the United States has said it won't recognize it -- nor China's call that aircraft entering it identify themselves and file flight plans.
Beijing, though, has dismissed the American position as unjustified and urged Washington to butt out of the territorial dispute.
Chinese defense ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun on Sunday called such criticism "completely unreasonable," "irresponsible" and "inappropriate," telling the United States to stop taking sides and not send more "wrong signals" that could lead to a "risky move by Japan."
And China's foreign ministry lodged a formal complaint with U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke asking Washington "to correct its mistakes immediately."
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/26/world/asia/china-us-b52s/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook
The U.S. Air Force B-52 planes -- which were not armed because they were on a training mission -- set off Monday from Guam and returned there without incident. The mission lasted for several hours, and the aircraft were in China's newly declared air zone for about an hour, according to the U.S. official.
The planes' pilots did not identify themselves upon entering the disputed airspace, as China would have wanted, according to the official.
The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The flights came two days after China unilaterally announced the creation of a "Air Defense Identification Zone" over several islands it and Japan have both claimed. The two countries have been sharply at odds over those isles, which are believed to be near large reserves of natural resources.
Washington responded negatively to what Secretary of State John Kerry characterized as an "escalatory action (that) will only increase tensions in the region and create risks of an incident." The U.S. government has rallied around its ally Japan, where thousands of its troops are stationed as part of a security treaty.
And specifically regarding China's new air defense zone, the United States has said it won't recognize it -- nor China's call that aircraft entering it identify themselves and file flight plans.
Beijing, though, has dismissed the American position as unjustified and urged Washington to butt out of the territorial dispute.
Chinese defense ministry spokesman Col. Yang Yujun on Sunday called such criticism "completely unreasonable," "irresponsible" and "inappropriate," telling the United States to stop taking sides and not send more "wrong signals" that could lead to a "risky move by Japan."
And China's foreign ministry lodged a formal complaint with U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke asking Washington "to correct its mistakes immediately."
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/26/world/asia/china-us-b52s/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook
B 52s? i thought they were a rock band......
... please make yourself at home ... 