The Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi , attends a news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a meeting in Berlin, on Saturday.

China’s Defense Ministry on Saturday accused the US of committing a “serious military provocation” by flying two Air Force B-52 bombers over a Chinese-controlled man-made island in the South China Sea, and said it would do whatever is necessary to protect the country’s sovereignty.

As is China’s usual practice, the Foreign Ministry took a more diplomatic tone. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the situation was essentially stable, but that outside nations should not “manufacture tensions.”

The Defense Ministry accused the US of deliberately raising tensions in the disputed region, where China has been aggressively asserting its claims to virtually all islands, reefs and their surrounding seas.

“The actions by the US side constitute a serious military provocation and are rendering more complex and even militarizing conditions in the South China Sea,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. It demanded Washington immediately take measures to prevent such incidents and damage to relations between the two nations’ militaries.

The statement said that Chinese military personnel on the island went on high alert during the Dec. 10 overflights by the B-52 strategic bombers and that they issued warnings demanding the aircraft leave the area.

Related articles across the web

• Chinese military conducts war games in South China Sea
• US: Chinese Island Building Threatens Shipping, Fishing
• China carries out war games in South China Sea this week - Reuters
• China Shows Military Might in War Games Within Disputed South China Sea
• Australian Military Flies Over The South China Sea
• China: South China Sea War Games Underway
• Asia Briefs: Tokyo, Jakarta to start defence talks
• Check Your Lonely Planet: Maps That Don't Adhere To China's South China Sea Claims Are Illegal
• Australian aircraft will continue to patrol South China Sea
• Typhoon Death Toll Rises; Maoist Rebels Ambush Philippine Army Aid Convoy