China lashed out at the US on Wednesday after a pair of B-52 bombers flew past a Chinese-held shoal in the South China Sea, amid escalating words and displays of military strength from the two major Pacific powers.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned the US against “hyping up militarisation and stirring up trouble,” while promising that China would take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty.
The US “doing whatever they want is risky and China will not be threatened by any military warships,” Hua told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing.
This week’s flyby near Scarborough Shoal, which China took from the Philippines in 2012, came after US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis accused Beijing of “intimidation and coercion” in the South China Sea.