China lands ‘test flight’ on artificial island in disputed SCS

Beijing has asserted its claim to nearly all of the South China Sea by rapidly building artificial islands, including airstrips said to be capable of accommodating military jets.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying rejected Vietnam’s accusations and told Reuters that the country used a civil aircraft to conduct a test flight to check whether the airfield facilities meet civil-aviation standards or not.

A Chinese “test flight” landed on Fiery Cross reef, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in an online statement late Saturday.

Vietnam handed a protest note to China’s embassy and asked China not to repeat the action.

The dispute has at times drawn in extra-territorial countries, particularly the United States, which have more often sided with China’s rivals.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters”.

Almost 50 young Filipinos returned yesterday from remote Philippine-held Pag-asa island in the South China Sea where they had staged a week-long protest against Beijing’s claims in the disputed waterway. The US, however, accuses Beijing of undergoing what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas. “China will not accept the unfounded accusation from the Vietnamese side”, she said, referring to the Spratly Islands by their Chinese name.

With a length of around three kilometers, the completed airfield is a sign of China’s ability to flex its military power in the region, he said. State Department spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala said: “We encourage all claimants to actively reduce tensions by refraining from unilateral actions that undermine regional stability, and taking steps to create space for meaningful solutions to emerge”.

Hanoi earlier strongly protested at the flight, labelling it a violation of sovereignty which “influences peace and stability in the South China Sea”. In October 2015, the Philippines formally lodged a legal complaint against China’s actions in the South China Sea with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, which made an initial ruling in its favor.