China lodges US spy plane complaint
Print Edition
CHINA has lodged a complaint with the United States over its spy plane that flew over parts of the South China Sea in a diplomatic row that has fuelled tension between the world’s two largest economies.
Friction has been growing over China’s land reclamation work in the Nansha Islands and China last week said it was “strongly dissatisfied” after a US spy plane flew over areas near the reefs.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday that a complaint had been lodged and that China was opposed to provocative behavior by the US.
“We urge the US to correct its error, remain rational and stop all irresponsible words and deeds,” she said. “Freedom of navigation and overflight by no means mean that foreign countries’ warships and military aircraft can ignore the legitimate rights of other countries as well as the safety of aviation and navigation.”
Washington has vowed to keep up air and sea patrols in the South China Sea amid its concerns that China might impose air and sea restrictions in the Nansha area once it completes work on seven artificial islands.
China has said it has every right to set up an Air Defense Identification Zone in the South China Sea and said it is entitled to keep watch over airspace and seas surrounding the artificial islands it has created in the South China Sea following an exchange in which its navy warned off the US surveillance plane.
The US said that its aerial patrols were “in accordance with international law” and that it will seek to preserve the ability of not just the US but all countries to exercise “freedom of navigation and flight.”
In Manila, President Benigno Aquino III said that Philippine aircraft will continue to fly their usual routes over disputed reefs in the South China Sea, defying China’s challenges to its planes and those of the US.
He told reporters yesterday that there is no declared air defense identification zone over the area and “we will still fly the routes that we fly based on international law.”
He said: “We will still exercise our rights over our exclusive economic zone,” adding that the “bottom line is, it has to be clear, we will defend our rights to the best of our abilities.”
The Philippines is pursuing international arbitration to try to resolve the territorial dispute with China.
When asked about what coordination the Philippines is having with the US, a key military ally, to address the problem, Aquino said that the two countries are helping each other but added that he could not reveal details.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters he was to meet US Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the US Pacific Command in Hawaii tomorrow to discuss concerns over the air defense identification zone in the area imposed by China.
“We will ask the extent of help they can give us,” he said. “Let us see what assistance they can give us to more or less keep us safe from harassment.”
Gazmin said Filipino and Japanese defense officials were also discussing the possibility of transferring Japanese military equipment to the Philippines.
Philippine military officials have said that China has challenged its air patrols at least six times since last month, with a recording asking the planes to leave the Chinese military area to avoid misunderstanding.
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