Vietnam’s Nansha flight protest ‘groundless’
Print Edition
CHINA yesterday rejected Vietnam’s protests against its test flights last week to a new airport on a reef in the South China Sea as “groundless.”
“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China’s test flights to the newly built airport on Yongshujiao fall totally within China’s sovereignty,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a daily press briefing.
China on Wednesday conducted two test flights, landing on and taking off from its southernmost airport on Yongshujiao reef, which it is developing for humanitarian purposes, including emergency landings and maritime rescue.
“The accusations that China’s test flights ‘threaten the safety of all flights in the region’ are entirely groundless,” Hong said in response to reports that Lai Xuan Thanh, director of Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority, had sent a protest letter to Beijing, and also a complaint to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization.
In quotes published in the Vietnamese official online newspaper zing.vn late on Friday, Lai said Chinese aircraft had “ignored all the rules and norms of the ICAO by not providing any flight plans or maintaining any radio contact with Vietnam’s air traffic control center.”
“Vietnam’s claims that it has not received notification from China does not conform to the facts,” Hong said.
On December 28, the Flight Inspection Center of the Civil Aviation Authority of China notified the authority of the Flight Information Region of Ho Chi Minh City of detailed technical information for test flights, including the flight plans and air route, in line with relevant rules and international norms, “but Vietnam has not given any feedback so far,” Hong said.
In addition to notifications via the professional channel, China also gave special technical notification and explanations to Vietnam’s foreign ministry on December 30, he said.
“Unfortunately, Vietnam ignored that the test flights are professional, civil and for the international public good, and has continued to disturb China’s normal activities for no reason,” he said.
In order to ensure the test flights’ safe implementation, China ultimately decided to turn the flights into a national aviation activity and sent civilian planes to complete the flights, he said.
According to international law, there is no restriction on national aviation activities in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and other related rules of the ICAO, he added.
It is stated in the Convention on International Civil Aviation that the aircraft of states, other than scheduled international air services, have the right to make flights across states’ territories and to make landings without obtaining prior permission.
Hong said China successfully completed the test flights at the airport on Yongshujiao reef on its own.
The inspection results show the airport accords with the standards of civil aviation and has the ability to ensure civilian airplanes’ safety, Hong said.
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