Marinduque Rising: Washington warns Beijing NOT to challenge its flights over South China Sea

First time the Pentagon had declassified video of China's building activity and audio of challenges to a U.S. aircraft. Click this link to watch CNN video.

'Nobody is going to try to stop the U.S. Navy from operating': Washington warns Beijing NOT to challenge its flights over South China Sea

* Washington pushes back against China over surveillance aircraft flight

* A P8-A Poseidon flew at 15,000ft above the islands in the South China Sea

* At one point a radio operator said 'this is the Chinese navy... you go!'

* Top US diplomat defends right of US and other nations to operate in area

By Callum Paton and Ted Thornhill for MailOnline

22 May 2015

Washington has warned Beijing not to challenge the U.S Navy operating in the South China Sea saying 'nobody in their right mind is going to try'.
Neither side has said it wants confrontation after a Chinese navy dispatcher demanded a U.S. P8-A Poseidon surveillance aircraft leave the Fiery Cross Reef, where China has been building artificial islands.
However, the U.S has pushed back after the incident as China seeks to assert its claims to the South China Sea.

After the American pilots responded by saying the plane was flying through international airspace, a Chinese radio operator said with exasperation: 'This is the Chinese navy... You go!' Pictured is one of the islands China is building in the area

The top U.S diplomat for East Asia. Daniel Russel has said there was nothing unusual about the U.S. reconnaissance mission, adding that Washington will seek to preserve the ability of all countries to exercise their rights to freedom of navigation and overflight.

'Nobody in their right mind is going to try to stop the U.S. Navy from operating. That would not be a good step. But it's not enough that a U.S. military plane can overfly international waters, even if there is a challenge or a hail and query' from the Chinese military, he said.

'We believe that every country and all civilian actors also should have unfettered access to international waters and international airspace,' he said.

Construction at Calderon (Cuarteron) Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands

Speaking at a regular daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reiterated Beijing's insistence on its indisputable sovereignty over the islands it has created by piling sand on top of atolls and reefs.

While saying he had no information about the reported exchange, Hong said China was 'entitled to the surveillance over related airspace and sea areas so as to maintain national security and avoid any maritime accidents.

'We hope relevant countries respect China's sovereignty over the South China Sea, abandon actions that may intensify controversies and play a constructive role for regional peace and stability,' Hong told reporters.

Asia's rising power China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia,Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.

Asia's rising power China claims sovereignty over most ofthe South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia,Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims.

US surveillance aircraft and naval ships have yet to test China's territorial claims around artificial islands built in the South China Sea, but the Pentagon warned that could be 'the next step'.

Although the United States does not recognise China's claims of sovereignty around the man-made structures, American P-8 surveillance planes and naval vessels patrolling the area have not ventured within 12 nautical miles of the artificial islands -- the standard territorial zone around natural land.

'That would be the next step,' Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.

Asked if the military would move to within that sensitive zone, he said: 'We don't have any announcement to make on next steps. We are going to continue our routine flights.'

US officials have said they are weighing sending warships and surveillance aircraft within 12 nautical miles of the man-made islands in the South China Sea to test Beijing's controversial territorial claims.

But the move could raise tensions and lead to a standoff on the high seas -- in an area vital to global shipping lanes.