China rejects Vietnam protests over plane landings in SC Sea

The China-Vietnam fracas over the contentious islands flared up again as Beijing on Monday rejected Hanoi’s protests against its test flights at a newly-built airport on a reef in the disputed South China Sea asserting that the area belongs to it.

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China’s test flights to the newly-built airport on Yongshu Jiao fall totally within China’s sovereignty,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told a media briefing here.

China and Vietnam have counter claims over the Spratly islands which China calls as Nansha islands.

China on Wednesday conducted two test flights landing on and taking off from its southernmost airport on Yongshu Jiao, which it claims to be developing for humanitarian purposes, including emergency landings and maritime rescue.

The landing of flights by China in the artificial islands built by it has fuelled the South China Sea (SCS) dispute.

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the sea.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims on the sea.