By Ankit Panda
The Vietnamese foreign ministry described the move as a “serious infringement” of its sovereignty.
The status of China’s artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea hit a new milestone on Saturday. China landed a civilian aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, drawing a sharp reaction from the Vietnamese government. Le Hai Binh, a spokesperson for the Vietnamese foreign ministry, said that a Chinese aircraft had landed on the 3000 meter airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef. He added that the strip had been “built illegally on Fiery Cross Reef, which is part of Vietnam’s Spratlys.” Vietnam, along with China, Taiwan, and Malaysia, claims Fiery Cross Reef, which has seen extensive land reclamation and construction work since last year. China has occupied the reef since 1988.
Binh continued that the move represented “a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Vietnam on the Spratly archipelago, contrary to the common perception of high-ranking leaders of the two countries and [to] an agreement on the basic principles for directly solving maritime issues between Vietnam and China.” He additionally noted that the Vietnamese government had filed a formal protest with the Chinese embassy, requesting that China refrain from staging another landing on the disputed island.
Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, clarified the nature of the landing. According to Hua, “the Chinese government conducted a test flight to the airport with a civil aircraft in order to test whether or not the facilities on it meet the standards for civil aviation.” She added that the “relevant activity falls completely within China’s sovereignty.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat