American B-52 bombers fly over disputed South China Sea for second time in 10 days
- Planes ‘conduct routine training’, US Pacific Air Force says, reiterating that it does so regularly ‘in support of allies and a free, open Indo-Pacific’
- It follows US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s criticism of ‘China’s illegal island-building in international waterways’
Two US B-52 strategic bombers flew over the contested South China Sea on Wednesday, according to the US Pacific Air Force, the second such flight in 10 days despite China’s objections.
“Two B-52H Stratofortress bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, and conducted routine training in the vicinity of the South China Sea on March 13 [Hawaii Standard Time], before returning to base,” a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Force said in a statement released on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the USS Blue Ridge, flagship of the US 7th Fleet also sailed through the South China Sea and anchored at Manila Bay on Wednesday, in a show of reassurance for the US-Philippine alliance in the region.
When asked if his contingent had encountered the Chinese navy in the region, Captain Eric Anduze, commander of the USS Blue Ridge, said “all of our interactions were safe and professional”, vowing the US military would “sail, fly and operate wherever the law allows us to”.
Sun Zhe, co-chair of the China programme at Columbia University, said the intention of the US in using B-52s was to restrain China in the South China Sea.