The United States has followed up on its commitment to challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, recently flying a surveillance plane over newly constructed islands there and receiving warnings by the Chinese navy to evacuate the area.
The flights, and the Chinese response, were first reported on May 20 by CNN, which was given exclusive access to a P8-A Poseidon surveillance craft. The dates of the flights were not provided.
“You are approaching our military alert zone,” said one of the Chinese voices, captured by the U.S. Navy and broadcast by CNN. “Leave immediately!” Another is more to the point: “You go!”
The flights were made over the islands that the Chinese regime has over the past year worked assiduously to construct, in an area it claims as its territory.
