Two B-52 bombers of the United States Air Force flew from their base in Guam to an area east of the disputed Dongsha or Pratas Islands in the South China Sea, sending a warning message to China, reports said Wednesday.

The aircraft passed over the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines and came as close to China’s province of Guangdong as 250 kilometers, a distance from which they could launch cruise missiles that could reach the communist country, the Chinese-language United Daily News wrote.