The same day, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry presented a diplomatic note to Chinese embassy counterpart opposing China’s action.
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The China’s Foreign Ministry, however, discarded the complaint and said that it was just a test flight to the newly-built airfield on the reef, which they call Yongshu Jiao.
Besides Kagitingan, China built artificial islands on Calderon (Cuarteron), Burgos (Gaven), Mabini (Johnson South), Panganiban (Mischief), Zamora (Subi) and McKennan (Hughes) reefs, all claimed by the Philippines and within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone recognized under Unclos.
Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping claims to the South China Sea.
Tensions have risen in the last two years after China transformed disputed reefs in the Spratly Island chain into islands that rival claimants fear Beijing could use to project its military might far from the Chinese mainland and threaten their territories.
Ha Le, deputy head of the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department, told AFP Chinese officials had offered to check on the report if more details became available. China’s President Xi Jinping visited Hanoi in November but that visit also saw anti-Chinese protests.
Hanoi also protested, labelling the landing a violation of sovereignty which “influences peace and stability in the South China Sea”.
China’s campaign of island building in the South China Sea might soon quadruple the number of airstrips available to the People’s Liberation Army in the highly contested and strategically vital region.
The test flight was completely within China’s indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and adjacent waters, the Ministry added. “China will not accept the unfounded accusation from the Vietnamese side”, Hua said.
The government of the Philippines announced Monday it would file a formal protest against China over the flight, claiming the Fiery Cross Reef for itself.
The US says China’s actions pose a threat to freedom of navigation in the region and denies Beijing’s sovereignty over the islands. It isn’t immediately clear from either the Vietnamese or Chinese foreign ministry statements if the civilian aircraft that landed on Fiery Cross Reef on Saturday was comparable in size to a large military aircraft, such as a long-range bomber.
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Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said he expected tensions to worsen as China used its new facilities to project power deeper into the South China Sea.
