Two US B52 bombers flew a mission over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea this week, the Pentagon said on Thursday, and received a verbal warning from Chinese air traffic controllers not to enter what Beijing believes to be Chinese airspace.
周四美国五角大楼表示，两架B52轰炸机本周曾飞近南中南海的斯普拉特利群岛(Spratly Islands,中国称南沙群岛)，并收到了中国空中交通管制员的警告，要求它们不得进入中国政府眼中的中国空域。
The Pentagon said the aircraft did not fly within 12 nautical miles of any of the contested land features in the area and the missions were not intended as a challenge to any of the various territorial claims in the South China Sea.
五角大楼表示，美军飞机没有飞入该地区存在争议的地物周围12海里上空，任务目的并非对中国在南中国海的任何主权声索发起挑战。
Peter Cook, Pentagon press secretary, said the B52s were operating in “international airspace” and continued their mission “unchanged” after being warned by Chinese controllers.
五角大楼新闻秘书彼得錠克(Peter Cook)表示，两家B52轰炸机当时在“国际空域”执行任务，在收到中方管制员的警告后，继续执行任务，“没有任何改变”。
The incident follows the Obama administration’s long-awaited decision two weeks ago to send a navy destroyer within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese artificial island in an attempt to challenge claims being made to the seas surrounding the land feature.
发生此事两周之前，奥巴马政府作出了期待已久的决定，派出海军一艘驱逐舰驶入一处中国人工岛屿的12海里区域，试图挑战中国对该岛周围海域的主权声索。
The warnings to the B52s, which flew missions from Guam on November 8 and 9, are the latest example of friction between the US and China as Beijing expands its military presence in an area that has been dominated for seven decades by the US Navy. Many analysts and military officials believe that the main risk is not a military confrontation between the two countries but some sort of accident as the two militaries come into closer contact that then becomes politically explosive.
这两架B52轰炸机是在11月8日和11月9日飞离关岛执行任务的。中国对其发出警告，是北京方面在被美国海军主宰了数十年的区域扩大军事存在之际，中美之间产生摩擦的最新一例。许多分析人士和军方官员认为，主要风险不在于两国之间会发生军事对抗，而在于，两军的更近距离接触将导致某类事件在政治方面产生爆炸性影响。