China slams ‘provocative’ US military flight over Taiwan

China reacts angrily to a US military transport jet’s flight over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, calling it an “illegal act” and “serious provocation.”

The overflight adds to rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over a slew of issues, and the US relationship with the island claimed by China is high on the list of disagreements.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said a Boeing C-40A Clipper transport jet flew over the island on Tuesday, the same day Taiwan intercepted several Chinese fighter jets that flew into the island’s southwest airspace.

A spokeswoman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office says the US flight “harms our sovereignty, security and development interests, and violates basic principles of international law and international relations.”

— AFP