South China Sea Forum

[biendong]

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Vietnam protests China’s pilot flight to illegally-built airport in Truong Sa

Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh has expressed Vietnam’s resolute protest against China’s pilot flight to an illegally-built airport on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) reef in Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

He made the statement in Hanoi on January 2, the same day when China committed the action.

“China’s above-mentioned action seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago and went counter to the common perception of the two countries’ leaders, the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of Vietnam – China issues at sea and the spirit of the 2012 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea,” he said.

It has undermined peace and stability in the East Sea, eroded bilateral political trust and negatively impacted the neighbourliness and sentiments between the two peoples, he added.

The spokesperson stated that Vietnam asks China to immediately end, not to repeat such an action and take practical and specific acts to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the East Sea.

The same day, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry presented a diplomatic note to Chinese embassy counterpart opposing China’s action.
VNA

 

[ahojunk]

Yongshu Jiao is Fiery Cross Island.
Looks like the airstrip is ready for civilian use.
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China's Test Flight to Yongshu Jiao "within Sovereignty": FM
2016-01-03 04:00:23 | Xinhua Web | Editor: Niu Honglin

A test flight to a newly-built airfield on a South China Sea reef was a matter "completely within China's sovereignty," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said late Saturday evening.

Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China has finished building an airfield on Yongshu Jiao of China's Nansha Islands.

The Chinese government used a civil aircraft to conduct the flight in order to test whether the airfield facilities meet civil aviation standards, she said, in response to reported objections of Vietnam's foreign ministry.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China will not accept the unfounded accusation from the Vietnamese side," Hua said.

At present, the relations between China and Vietnam maintain a momentum of development. China hopes Vietnam can work accordingly to achieve "sustainable, healthy and stable" development of bilateral ties, Hua said.

 

[ahojunk]

Picture of Meiji Island taken on the first day of 2016!
The airstrip is seen on the north west. On the south west, there are two entrances to the lagoon.
There are lots of ships in the lagoon.

 

[biendong]

 

[Ludovic]

It seems USA wants more and more a ww3 and everything is good to increase the problems everywhere

 

[cnleio]

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Vietnam protests China’s pilot flight to illegally-built airport in Truong Sa

Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh has expressed Vietnam’s resolute protest against China’s pilot flight to an illegally-built airport on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) reef in Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

He made the statement in Hanoi on January 2, the same day when China committed the action.

“China’s above-mentioned action seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago and went counter to the common perception of the two countries’ leaders, the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of Vietnam – China issues at sea and the spirit of the 2012 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea,” he said.

It has undermined peace and stability in the East Sea, eroded bilateral political trust and negatively impacted the neighbourliness and sentiments between the two peoples, he added.

The spokesperson stated that Vietnam asks China to immediately end, not to repeat such an action and take practical and specific acts to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the East Sea.

The same day, a representative from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry presented a diplomatic note to Chinese embassy counterpart opposing China’s action.
VNA

They will be deployed in SCS, Vietnam can't do nothing or say byebye to current economy.

 

[biendong]

They will be deployed in SCS, Vietnam can't do nothing or say byebye to current economy.

PLA jet crashes killing two pilots | gbtimes.com

 

[ahojunk]

This stuff is dated 2013/04/02.

This is almost 3 years old.

Moreover the incident is in Shandong, it has nothing to do with the South China Sea.

Why are you wasting electrons by posting old stuff here?

 

[cnleio]

PLA jet crashes killing two pilots | gbtimes.com

For China, it's not a big deal coz Chinese aviation industry can produce double not need support from foreign ... and it's a normal case for aircraft crash. The gap is like when someone buy 100x foreign fighters, China produced 1,000x fighters in home, fortunately we just crashed few not most ... also cheaper than some F-22 crashed, we can afford the cost.

 

[Elkanah]

It is also important to note that military plane crashes occur in even the US mighty air force of which there were several in December 2015 so I am unsure what a jet crash in China plaaf is meant to convey to the readers here ?

 

[Elkanah]

Also of note the entire F22 stealth fleet was grounded for a while in 2015 because of safety issues. So again I fail to comprehend the relavent point that is trying to be made ? It would be helpful to me at least if you clarified the the relavence of a Chinese jet crash to the overall issue of the South China Sea ?

 

[Elkanah]

As a non Asian interested in the South China Sea disputes I must say it is certainly good that the Vietnamese and Chinese governments are a great deal more rational and sober minded than some of the posters here. Just my opinion.

 

[Elkanah]

It's rather silly to dismiss the Chinese the way you are they remain the ONLY nation to recover from European imperial divine right and it is my hope as a Caribbean man that Vietnam or the phillippenes don't derail China's lead in freeing this world from European domination

 

[biendong]

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Japan, US voice concern over China’s test flight
VNA MONDAY, JANUARY 04, 2016 - 16:38:18

Hanoi (VNA) – Japan and the US have expressed their concern over China’s testing landing of a plane on an airstrip illegally built on Chu Thap (Fiery Cross) Reef in Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

Japan’s Kyodo News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as saying at a press briefing on January 4 that Japan is gravely concerned about China's act, which is a unilateral change of the status quo in the East Sea as well as the attempt to make Beijing's massive and fast-paced land reclamation work in the seas “a fait accompli.”

Japan cannot accept the act which is escalating tensions in the region, he said, noting that Japan will continue to cooperate with other countries concerned to protect the freedom of the seas.

The US State Department’s Spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala was also quoted by Reuters on January 2 as saying that the flight has exacerbated tensions.

She called on relevant sides to actively reduce tensions by refraining from unilateral actions that undermine regional stability, and taking steps to create space for meaningful diplomatic solutions to emerge.

Responding to China’s test flight, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Spokesperson Le Hai Binh on January 2 said the act seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over Truong Sa archipelago and runs counter to the common perception reached by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders, the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of Vietnam – China issues at sea and the spirit of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.

It has undermined peace and stability in the East Sea, eroded bilateral political trust and negatively impacted the neighbourliness and good sentiments between the two peoples, he added.

Vietnam resolutely protests against China’s pilot flight and asks the country to immediately end, not to repeat such an action and take practical and specific acts to contribute to maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the East Sea, Binh said.-VNA
East Sea

 

[Martian2]

China's South China Sea helipads enable anti-submarine warfare.

Interestingly, China's islands in the South China Sea are being constructed with helipads (see IHS Jane's caption below). This allows China to conduct anti-submarine warfare with its Z-9C sub-hunting helicopters.
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South China Sea tensions surge as China lands plane on artificial island| Reuters

"The runway is complete with markings installed, including helipads, suggesting a potential for use in the near future."

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Chinese Z-9C Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) Helicopter | Chinese Military Review