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China rejects Vietnam protest over flight test on disputed islands
“Relevant activity falls completely within China’s sovereignty”, said Hua, stressing that her country “has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters”. China rejected Hanoi’s protest and will likely dismiss Manila’s concerns as well.
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She added that China had used a civil aircraft to conduct the flight to test whether the airfield facilities meet civil aviation standards.
It also affects peace and stability in the East Vietnam Sea, compromising the political trust between Vietnam and China and negatively impacting the neighborly relations between the two peoples, Binh said.
The United States has expressed alarm over China’s island-making in the disputed waters and deployed a guided missile destroyer near Subi Reef in October to challenge Beijing’s claim of sovereignty in the waters around the artificial islands.
The same day, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry presented a diplomatic note to Chinese embassy counterpart opposing China’s action.
Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh.
The test flight came after a visit to Hanoi by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, which was partly created to address the souring relationship between the two countries over territorial disputes.
Vietnam has responded angrily to the landing of a Chinese aircraft on a reclaimed island in the disputed Spratly Islands.
China will not accept Vietnam’s “unfounded accusations” and hopes Vietnam can work towards achieving “sustainable, healthy and stable” development of bilateral ties, ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in its statement last Saturday, referring to the Spratly Islands by their Chinese name.
China has become more assertive in pressing its claims to the South China Sea islands, an archipelago rich in natural resources that is the focal point of rival claims by neighboring governments.
The US has criticised China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea and worries that China plans to use them for military purposes, even though China says it has no hostile intent.
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Several other claimants have also built facilities in the South China Sea but at a slower pace than China. Beijing said China has every right to land its plane on the Beijing-built airstrip in the region.