China: We Watched B-52s

Classic case of “we were totally on top of the situation and watching you” by China? Beijing insisted Wednesday that it was in fact monitoring the U.S. bomber planes within their newly declared air-defense zone, despite having earlier threatened to take down any unidentified foreign aircraft in the region. Two American B-52s were spotted Tuesday over disputed islands that the Chinese government had insisted it would defend just last weekend. The very presence of the B-52s suggests that China may have overstated its commitment to defending the islands, but Chinese officials insisted Wednesday they were following the new rules—although they did not offer any specifics.