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Air turbulence over South China Sea
Vietnam formally accused China of violating its sovereignty by landing a plane on an airstrip Beijing has built on an artificial island in South China Sea which Vietnam claims as its own.
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Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said the airfield, had been “built illegally” on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly archipelago, in territory that was “part of Vietnam’s Spratlys”.
Rejecting Vietnam’s complaint, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was a test flight to the newly built airfield on the reef, which China calls Yongshu Jiao, and “completely within China’s sovereignty,” the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China used a civil aircraft to conduct the flight to test whether the airfield facilities meet civil-aviation standards.
Hanoi’s Foreign Ministry said Vietnam handed a protest note to China’s embassy and asked China not to repeat the action. It called the flight “a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Vietnam on the Spratly archipelago”.
Turbulent waters
- China, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and Brunei lay claim to the South China Sea.
- Disputes centre around maritime boundaries, Spratly and Paracel Islands.
- Area believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits.
- An estimated US $ 5 trillion ship-borne trade passes through these waters every year.
- China is accused of creating artificial islands with a potential to turn into a military base, China refutes the allegation.
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