China rejects Vietnam protest over flight test on disputed islands
China has rejected as “unfounded” Vietnam’s accusation that Beijing violated its sovereignty by conducting a flight test on an artificial island in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
In a statement on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said the civilian flight to a newly-built airstrip on the Yongshu Jiao Reef in Nansha Islands was conducted to assess the preparedness of the airfield for civil aviation.
“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. The Chinese side will not accept the unfounded accusations from the Vietnamese side.”
She further said Beijing hoped Hanoi could work to achieve “sustainable, healthy and stable” development of bilateral relations.
The remarks came on the same day that Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh accused China of breaching his country's sovereignty and a recent confidence-building pact between them by conducting the flight test on the airstrip.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The contested waters are believed to be rich in oil and gas.
The dispute has at times drawn in extra-territorial countries, particularly the United States, which have more often sided with China’s rivals.
Beijing accuses Washington of meddling in the regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea. The US, however, accuses Beijing of undergoing what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas.
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