BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- China's sending a military plane to transport sick workers from a reef in the South China Sea is lawful and rational.
A Chinese navy patrol plane on Sunday picked up three seriously sick workers on Yongshu Jiao and transported them to Sanya, Hainan Province, in South China.
But the humanitarian move gave rise to dissatisfaction from Washington, which questioned China's purpose behind using a military aircraft instead of a civilian one to evacuate the workers.
In fact, Washington's suspicion is needless and baseless.
First, dispatching a military plane to transport the workers from Yongshu Jiao does not violate international law.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its surrounding waters. It is lawful for a Chinese plane to fly in China's own airspace and the United States has no right to criticize such a move.
Not to mention the participation of military planes in disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians is a common practice around the world.
Second, facing the heavily sick workers, the top priority is to save their lives instead of focusing on which type of planes was used.
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