US B-52 bombers fly near Chinese made islands in South China Sea

[Akasa]

You specifically said that B-52s are not a threat to modern air defense networks. As a cruise missile truck with significant standoff ranges it absolutely is a threat.

B-52s flying as a show of force is never a threat. If the B-52s had been loaded with stand-off missiles and were mounting an attack, the Chinese would've responsed accordingly to the circumstances of the situation.

 

[Dungeness]

That seems to be the case. Any actions short of totally stopping China from building and fortifying those islands are just plain theatrics.

South China Sea Dispute: John McCain Calls On Pentagon To Explain Patrol

And about the US B-52 fly through:

US strategic bombers fly close to Chinese islands, ignore ‘get away’ orders — RT News

I don't know where they have been in the last 18 months when Chinese were building their islands like no tomorrow. For the US, It is too little too late now.

 

[Economic superpower]

Russian bombers flew off US coast and received an escort so is it some kind of a big deal that a single B-52 flew in SCS? Why should China feel threatened if the US don't get any anxiety from our Russian comrades right?
The American and those sucking up to them members are making an elephant out of a mosquito. Yeah so B-52 can carry cruise missiles and we have DF-26 to wipe out Guam. There's nothing to see so move along, China will continue to build infrastructure on our reclaimed islands and militarize them. What's the US gonna do? Bomb them?

China has the H-6K (range 3,500km) and armed with the ALCM KD-20 (range 2,500 km) can target Guam.

Not just the DF-26 IRBM.

 

[XenoEnsi-14]

Time for China to fly H-6K near Guam?

OOOoooOOOooo!!! A Cold War between China? Interesting, wonder which Empire has the most patience.

 

[Sanchez]

This would let China militarize the new artificial islands.

 

[ultron]

A bold challenge is to parachute American paratroopers onto the islands and dare Chinese to shoot them.

 

[William Hung]

These flights are a prime example of political posturing, as are Chinese naval ventures off Alaska and US spyplane flights near the Chinese mainland. Nothing more, nothing less. Make a movie out of it if you wish but we'll leave that to the senationalists.

The difference is that when the PLAN sailed its ships near US territories, the US didn’t opposed or declared those act as illegal (because international law allows everyone to do it).

But for these US flights and patrols, China officially objected to it, declared it as illegal and warned it to stop doing these patrols. But the US keep continue to do them and China couldn’t dare to do anything other than to issue the same warning like “you go, you go, you go!”.

As a fellow Asian (Viet), I wish China would grow some spine and stand up to the US, especially after hearing the tough rhetorics from China. But unfortunately China haven’t backed up its tough rhetorics, just warning and warning and warning.

Chinese members found it normal "its ok", "just flied by".. What happened to the tigers?

Here they are:

 

[Dungeness]

McCain calls on Pentagon to clarify South China Sea patrol

By David BrunnstromNovember 11, 2015 2:43 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the influential U.S. Senate Armed Services committee has called on the Pentagon to clarify publicly the legal intent of a U.S. patrol last month within 12 nautical miles of an island China has built in the South China Sea.

U.S. officials said last week that the U.S. Navy avoided military drills that could have further inflamed tensions with Beijing during the Oct. 27 patrol by the destroyer USS Lassen in the Spratly islands, an approach experts said could reinforce rather than challenge China's sovereignty claims.

Senator John McCain, the Republican head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a Nov. 9 letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter it was vital there should be no misunderstanding about U.S. objectives.

"I believe it is critical that the Department of Defense publicly clarify ... the legal intent behind this operation and any future operations of a similar nature," McCain wrote in the letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Washington argues that islands China has built up in the South China Sea are not entitled to a territorial limit under international law as they used to be under water at high tide.

China reacted angrily to the patrol near Subi Reef, which followed months of U.S. preparation, despite its lack of military drills.

But analysts said that if the Lassen failed to conduct military drills, the operation would have resembled what is known as "innocent passage," and could have reinforced China's claim to a territorial limit around the reef.

McCain called on Carter to clarify what excessive claims the Lassen was intending to challenge and whether the warship operated under the rules of innocent passage.

Innocent passage occurs when a ship quickly transits another country's territorial waters, and can only take place in waters belonging to another country.

Pentagon officials have given conflicting descriptions of the Lassen's maneuver.

A U.S. official speaking to Reuters at the time described it as an "innocent-passage" operation but later said that had been a mistake.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said on Nov. 4 the patrol was not an "innocent passage," but when pressed further the following day, he declined to explicitly restate that position or elaborate.

The Pentagon has yet to respond to McCain's letter, a spokesman said.
________________________________________________________________________

So what exactly is the point of these FON operations? It now looks more and more like a "self fulfilled prophecy" , as Chinese have pointed out .

 

[大汉奸柳传志]

A bold challenge is to parachute American paratroopers onto the islands and dare Chinese to shoot them.

We will throw them a beach party.. Life gets lonely on a remote island.

 

[Kyle Sun]

people knows uncle sam is the only super power .
Uncle sam does not need to remind us again and again.

We focus on working and you just keep playing policemen of word and have fun.

 

[William Hung]

Dimwit, you can call it escort if your media wants the intention be known as an aggressive counter or shadow if you intent it to be a mild aggressive counter. Whatever you try to define, BOTH intention lead to the same outcome and that is to make sure that ship did not try to do harm to your territorial rights.

The Chinese foreign ministry said what Lassen did was illegal, so according to them the Lassen have already infringed on China’s rights. Whatever “outcome” you are talking about, it surely did not prevented the US from doing what china considered as illegal. And the US said they will continue doing it again.

 

[Viet]

Interesting.Thing now works well for Vietnam and Philippines as the US finally wakes up seeking a direct confrontation. sending B-52 bombers is a clear message to the Chinese. Nice.

 

[terranMarine]

File:Boeing B-52 dropping bombs.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I love this photo, especially the description

 

[Kyle Sun]

Interesting.Thing now works well for Vietnam and Philippines as the US finally wakes up seeking a direct confrontation. sending B-52 bombers is a clear message to the Chinese. Nice.

Uncle Sam has kept sending such message to us for more than half century.
Your reflex arc is so slow.

 

[Economic superpower]

Interesting.Thing now works well for Vietnam and Philippines as the US finally wakes up seeking a direct confrontation. sending B-52 bombers is a clear message to the Chinese. Nice.

This will make China spend more on military and buildup its military even faster. China will become even more assertive as pro-military hawks are proven their views are correct and they gain more influence in the CPC.

China escorting US ships shows China is not going to back down to anyone like in 1996 Taiwan crisis. Countries in Asia thought that all you need to do for China to back down is for the US to step in and China will eventually back down. But PLAN sending ships to escort US ships when it entered within 12nm shows not even the US military can get China to back down. China deployed J-11 fighter jets to those islands.

This is actually bad news for Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and other mickey mouse countries.

China is in no mood to back down even to the US military and in China's backyard, not even the US military can take on China in an all out war. As China's military power grows, the greatest effect will be felt in China's SCS.

You got this all wrong, it is China that is sending a clear message to the US. The message is that those islands will be built, those islands will be militarised and once the military facilities on those islands are complete, China will escort US naval and air assets and extend China's military reach.