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 The latest U.S. patrol in the disputed South China Sea occurred in
advance of President Barack Obama's visit to the region next week to
attend Asia-Pacific summits where he is expected to reassert
Washington's commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight in
the area.
China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5
trillion in global trade passes every year, and the United States
has said it will continue conducting patrols to assure unimpeded
passage. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have
rival claims in the region.
In the latest mission, on the night of Nov. 8 and 9, the bombers
flew "in the area" of the Spratly Islands but did not come within
the 12-nautical-mile zones that China claims as territory around
islands it has built in the chain, said Commander Bill Urban, a
Pentagon spokesman.
"The B-52s were on a routine mission in the SCS (South China Sea),"
taking off from and returning to Guam, Urban said.
Chinese ground controllers contacted the bombers but the aircraft
continued their mission unabated, Urban said.
 "We conduct B-52 flights in international air space in that part of
the world all the time," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told a news
briefing on Thursday.
In Beijing, asked about the case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hong Lei said China respected all countries exercising freedom of
navigation and overflight in the South China Sea in line with
international law. "We resolutely oppose any country, in the name of
freedom of navigation and overflight, harming and violating
international law, harming China's sovereignty and security
interests," he added.
Last month, a U.S. warship challenged territorial limits around one
of China's man-made islands in the Spratly archipelago with a
so-called freedom-of-navigation patrol, the most significant U.S.
challenge yet to territorial limits China claims around its new
islands.
China reacted angrily to the patrol.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he did not know whether the
South China Sea would be on the formal agenda at any of the three
Asia summits Obama is to attend but added it would be "on the minds
and lips" of the gathered world leaders.
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Obama's first stop will be Manila, for the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum summit, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping will
also be present. The U.S. president will then go to Kuala Lumpur for
ASEAN and East Asia summits.
"We are quite concerned about protecting freedom of navigation, the
free flow of commerce in the South China Sea," Earnest told
reporters.
"And we're going to continue to encourage all parties, big and
small, to resolve their differences diplomatically and to not try to
use their comparative size and strength to intimidate their
neighbors."
Chinese spokesman Hong said the South China Sea should not be a
subject for discussion at the East Asia Summit.
"The East Asia Summit and relevant meetings focus on regional
cooperation and development," he said. "They are not an appropriate
place for discussing the South China Sea issue."
In an apparent show of U.S. resolve, Obama will take part in what
the White House called "an event that showcases U.S. maritime
security assistance to the Philippines". U.S. officials did not
elaborate.
But in September, Navy Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S.
Pacific Command, visited the National Coast Watch Center, a facility
at the Philippines coast guard headquarters that Washington has
helped Manila build, to better monitor developments in the South
China Sea.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, and Ben Blanchard and
Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing; Editing by Ken Wills and Clarence
Fernandez)
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