China's air force has announced that it recently flew long-range, nuclear-capable aircraft over the South China Sea, including near the flash point Scarborough Shoal, and that the patrols would become a "regular practice."
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted military spokesman Shen Jinke as saying late Monday that the air force had sent H-6K bombers and other aircraft, including fighter jets, to patrol islands and reefs, less than a week after a U.N.-backed international tribunal rejected Beijing's historic claims to much of the South China Sea.
"To effectively fulfill its mission, the air force will continue to conduct combat patrols on a regular basis in the South China Sea," Shen was quoted as saying.