China Warns US Surveillance Plane Flying Over South China Sea

The Chinese navy issued several warnings to a US surveillance aircraft on Wednesday, May 20, as it flew over man-made islands that Beijing is creating in a contested area of the South China Sea. The mission documented construction on the sea’s reefs, the control over which is disputed between China, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly, a defense and security website, released satellite images on April 16 showing China’s construction work on a runway on Fiery Cross Reef, in the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands. The photos, taken between February 6 and March 23, show the first section of a runway that is believed to hold military capability once finished, according to IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly. Credit: YouTube/U.S. Navy