China, US trade verbal salvos in the South China Sea

A US surveillance aircraft flying over Mischief Reef, located in the disputed Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, was warned eight times by the Chinese Navy on Wednesday, according to CNN.

The P8-A Poseidon aircraft, owned by the US military, was conducting a scouting mission in international waters adjacent to the Islands in order to asses China's progress in building military installations, when it was warned by Chinese naval officials to vacate the area.

Read more: US weighs deploying air and naval units to South China sea

"You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately," a Chinese official told the US plane, CNN reported as it witnessed the scene. “This is the Chinese Navy...you go!,” he added.

After the warning, the US pilots responded that they were flying through international airspace and continued on their mission.

It comes amid US worries that the Asian giant is building artificial islands in the contested waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims over the area.

China is eroding regional trust and undermining investor confidence

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Wednesday that China's expansionism in the region generated mistrust and could even lead to war.

"As China seeks to make sovereign land out of sandcastles and redraw maritime boundaries, it is eroding regional trust and undermining investor confidence ," Blinken said at a press conference in Jakarta.

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