The US Air Force conducted two bomber flights this week into areas considered sensitive by the Chinese military, missions that have come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing.
«There’s nothing out of the ordinary about it,» Mattis added.
On Tuesday, US B-52s also «participated in a regularly scheduled, combined operation in the vicinity of the East China Sea,» Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn told CNN.
A US defense official told CNN that the bombers were escorted by Japanese fighter jets and flew in proximity to the Japanese controlled Senkaku Islands which China lays claim to.
The bombers also flew into the Chinese military’s unilaterally declared Air Defense Identification Zone which extends over the area.
The two missions comes amid heightened tensions over a series of issues in the last week.
