Beijing sends bombers and jet fighters over contested islands in the South China Sea

CHINA has sent bombers and fighter jets on "combat patrols" near contested islands in the South China Sea in a move that will set tensions running even higher in the region.

A senior colonel said the exercise was part of an effort to normalise such drills and respond to security threats.

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The patrols come at a tense time in the disputed south east Asian waters after The Hague ruled last month that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea.

Earlier this week Chinese warships were pictured firing live missiles over the disputed waters in a awe inspiring show of strength.

Dozens of projectiles were shot across the see in images sure to rattle the cages of the international community.

The Chinese air force sent several H-6 bombers and Su-30 fighter jets to inspect the airspace around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, according to state news agency Xinhua.

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The patrols included surveillance and refuelling aircraft, Xinhua said, but it did not say when they happened.

Colonel Shen Jinke told state media:"The Air Force is organising normalised South China Sea combat patrols, practising tactics ... increasing response capabilities to all kinds of security threats and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and maritime interests."

The communist power has refused to recognise the ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague that invalidated its sweeping claims  to territory in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines.

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A dispute over the shoal, 124 nautical miles northwest of the Philippines mainland, was one of Manila's main reasons for bringing legal action against China in 2013.

Beijing has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries and Japan for the decision to be adhered to and has released pictures of aircraft flying over the shoal since the ruling.

China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stoking tension through its military patrols in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.

In another bizarre move a state run newspaper in the country also called for war with Australia branding the land down under a “delirious country” with an “inglorious history”.

China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have rival claims in the South China Sea.

The United States has conducted freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-held islands, to Beijing's anger, while China has been bolstering its military presence there.

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