China rejects military plane criticism
Print Edition
CHINA hit back at US criticism of a military aircraft landing on a reef in the South China Sea, saying that dispatching military aircraft for humanitarian purposes is an international norm.
A Chinese navy patrol plane picked up three seriously ill workers on Yongshu Jiao and flew them to Sanya in south China’s Hainan Province, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday.
Reporters had asked for a comment on remarks by US Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis that “it is unclear why the Chinese used a military aircraft, as opposed to a civilian one” to evacuate the workers.
“As we all know, the participation of military planes in disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and evacuating civilians is a common practice around the world,” Hua said.
Chinese military aircraft have frequently been seen during earthquake and other disaster relief efforts. On Chinese soil, Chinese military planes and personnel will show up whenever they are needed, Hua said.
“It is the military’s responsibility and people’s expectation,” she said.
Hua questioned why the United States sent military ships and planes, instead of civilian ones, to what they described as efforts to maintain freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
She urged the US to take “real actions” to safeguard peace and stability in the area.
In a statement on its website, China’s defense ministry said: “Serving the people whole-heartedly is the mission of the People’s Liberation Army. Rescuing the people in danger is a fine tradition of the PLA.”
It added: “When people’s lives are at risk, the US is still obsessed with questioning whether a military or civilian plane should be the choice,” expressing doubt that the US military would stand aloof if US citizens suddenly fell ill on US soil.
China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its surrounding waters. The construction and defense facility deployment on relevant islands and reefs are within China’s sovereignty, the ministry said, urging the US to “stop pointing fingers.”
Meanwhile, Japan was blasted over its claims that a new collection of documents “proved” its sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands.
Hua was responding to recent reports covering the claim by the Japanese government that it had collected 750 pieces of documents showing the Diaoyu Islands were an integral part of Japan’s territory.
“Although Japan tried its utmost to find some supportive documents, which were taken out of context, it can never change the fact that China has sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands,” Hua said.
Hua stressed that the Diaoyu Islands and affiliated islets are part of China’s inherent territory, a fact, she said, that was supported by historical and jurisprudential evidence.
Prior to the first Sino-Japanese war, maps by Western countries widely described the Diaoyu Islands as belonging to China, she added.
Japan colonized Taiwan and its affiliated islands, including the Diaoyu Islands, after the Sino-Japanese war in 1894, and the Diaoyu Islands were given back to China following international legal instruments after the World War II, Hua said.
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