Ballistic missiles launched in response to US aerial activities in a 'no-fly zone' area during a Chinese naval drill.
China
has fired two missiles, including one dubbed an "aircraft-carrier
killer", into the South China Sea, according to a news report, in a
pointed warning to the United States as tensions in the disputed sea
lane rise to new levels.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP)
reported on Thursday that Beijing fired one intermediate-range ballistic
missile, DF-26B, from Qinghai Province and another medium-range
ballistic missile, DF-21D, from Zhejiang Province on Wednesday in
response to US aerial activities in a "no-fly zone" area.
In
response, Mark Esper, the US defence chief, said China has repeatedly
fallen short of promises to abide by international laws, noting that
China seems to be flexing its muscles the most in Southeast Asia.
The
two missiles were reportedly fired in the direction of the area between
Hainan province and the disputed Paracel Islands, the Hong Kong-based
publication added, quoting an unnamed source.
According to the
paper, a US U-2 spy plane had reportedly entered a Chinese-designated
"no-fly zone" on Tuesday without permission during a live-fire naval
drill conducted by China in the Bohai Sea off its north coast.
In
a social media post, Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the United
Kingdom, said that the US move "severely disrupted" China's normal
exercises and "training activities."
Zhao Lijian, China's foreign
ministry spokesman, described the spy plane overflight as "provocative
actions" and urged the US to stop.
The DF-26B missile, which was
formally launched earlier this month, is capable of hitting moving
targets at sea, making it an "aircraft-carrier killer", according to the
state-owned Global Times.
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson,
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, was previously quoted as saying that the
missile can carry conventional or nuclear warheads and is capable of
launching precision strikes on land and sea targets.
With its
range of 4,500km (2,796 miles), DF-26 can reach the West Pacific and the
Indian Ocean, as well as American facilities in Guam, the British
island of Diego Garcia and even the Australian city of Darwin
'Within accepted rules'
Meanwhile,
the DF-21, has been described as an anti-ship ballistic missile system,
also meant for attacking moving ships at sea.
In July, two US
aircraft conducted freedom of navigation exercises and military drills
with its allies in the South China Sea, prompting an angry response from
Beijing.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to Reuters, a US
official confirmed the firing of the two missiles on Wednesday adding
that an assessment was under way to determine the type of missile
launched.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, confirmed the U-2 overflight,
adding that the activity in the Indo-Pacific region was "within the
accepted international rules and regulations governing aircraft
flights".
News of the missile launches come as the US announced
that it was blacklisting 24 Chinese companies and targeting individuals
it said are part of construction and military actions in the South China
Sea, its first such sanctions move against Beijing over the disputed
seas
The US Commerce Department said the two dozen companies
played a "role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize
the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China
Sea."
Separately, the State Department said it would impose visa
restrictions on Chinese individuals "responsible for, or complicit in",
such actions and those linked to China's "use of coercion against
Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore
resources".
In July, Washington said it could sanction Chinese
officials and enterprises involved in coercion in the South China Sea
after it announced a tougher stance rejecting Beijing's claims to
offshore resources there as "completely unlawful".
China claims
virtually all of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, but
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also lay claim to
parts of an area, through which more than $3 trillion of trade passes
each year.
The US accuses China of militarising the South China
Sea and trying to intimidate Asian neighbours who might want to exploit
its extensive oil and gas reserves.
US warships have gone through
the area to assert the freedom of access to international waterways,
raising fears of confrontation.
A spokesperson for China's
embassy in Washington condemned the US sanctions as "completely
unreasonable," and urged the US to reverse them.
"(South China
Sea Islands) is an integral part of China's territory, and it is fully
justified for us to build facilities and deploy necessary defence
equipment there," the spokesperson said.
"The Chinese government has firm determination to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity."
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