News Content
China rejects Vietnam's protest over flight to disputed Spratly Islands
IN response to an official protest from Vietnam claiming that China's flight to a newly built airfield on the Spratly Islands (renamed Nansha islands by China) "encroaches on Vietnam's sovereignty," a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said the matter is "completely within China's sovereignty".
China refuses to accept Vietnam's "unfounded accusations" and hopes Vietnam can work towards achieving "sustainable, healthy and stable" development of bilateral ties, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
The comments follow the posting of a statement on Vietnam's government website that said China's flight to the disputed islands "undermines peace and stability", damages "political trust" and relations between the nations, and "goes against the common perceptions of the senior leaders of the two countries," reported Bloomberg News.
Vietnam has said it is considering taking legal action against China over the construction of islands in the South China Sea on reclaimed reefs.
US State Department spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala said there was "a pressing need for claimants to publicly commit to a reciprocal halt to further land reclamation, construction of new facilities, and militarisation of disputed features".
"We encourage all claimants 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," she said.
Ms Hua, from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China used a civil aircraft to conduct the flight to test whether the airfield facilities meet civil aviation standards, Reuters reported.
China refuses to accept Vietnam's "unfounded accusations" and hopes Vietnam can work towards achieving "sustainable, healthy and stable" development of bilateral ties, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
The comments follow the posting of a statement on Vietnam's government website that said China's flight to the disputed islands "undermines peace and stability", damages "political trust" and relations between the nations, and "goes against the common perceptions of the senior leaders of the two countries," reported Bloomberg News.
Vietnam has said it is considering taking legal action against China over the construction of islands in the South China Sea on reclaimed reefs.
US State Department spokeswoman Pooja Jhunjhunwala said there was "a pressing need for claimants to publicly commit to a reciprocal halt to further land reclamation, construction of new facilities, and militarisation of disputed features".
"We encourage all claimants 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," she said.
Ms Hua, from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said China used a civil aircraft to conduct the flight to test whether the airfield facilities meet civil aviation standards, Reuters reported.
Latest News
- For the first time, tianjin Port realized the whole process of dock operati...
- From January to August, piracy incidents in Asia increased by 38%!The situa...
- Quasi-conference TSA closes as role redundant in mega merger world
- Singapore says TPP, born again as CPTPP, is now headed for adoption
- Antwerp posts 5th record year with boxes up 4.3pc to 10 million TEU
- Savannah lifts record 4 million TEU in '17 as it deepens port
