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This headache has reached global proportions.
“The U.S. warned China Thursday, May 21, against confronting U.S. aerial patrols over the South China Sea days after a verbal dispute between a Chinese military dispatcher and a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft,” reports FoxNews.com.
The U.S. made its statement after the Chinese Navy warned the Navy’s P8-A Poseidon to get out of their territory as it flew over Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Island chain. The said confrontation took place on Wed, May 20.
READ: China issues eight stern warnings as U.S. Navy flies over the South China Sea
A Chinese dispatcher demanded eight times that the Navy P8-A Poseidon leave the area. These were the Chinese dispatcher’s words: “Foreign military aircraft, this is Chinese navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately.”
The report noted: “After the American crew responded that it was flying over international waters, the Chinese dispatcher responded, ‘This is the Chinese Navy … You go!'”
China has done extensive reclamation work in the area, which is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute involving several countries including the Philippines.
Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said that “the U.S. will seek to preserve the ability of not just the United States but all countries to exercise their rights to freedom of navigation and overflight.”
Russel stated, “Nobody in their right mind is going to try to stop the U.S. Navy from operating. That would not be a good step. But it’s not enough that a U.S. military plane can overfly international waters, even if there is a challenge or a hail and query [from the Chinese military].”
He added, “We believe that every country and all civilian actors also should have unfettered access to international waters and international airspace.”
