The Chinese navy warned a US surveillance plane flying over artificial islands that Beijing is creating in the disputed South China Sea to leave the area eight times, according to CNN, which was onboard the flight on Wednesday.
At one stage, after the US pilots responded by saying the plane was flying through international airspace, a Chinese radio operator said with exasperation: “This is the Chinese navy... You go.”
The P8-A Poseidon, the US military’s most advanced surveillance aircraft, flew at 4,500m at its lowest point, CNN said.
The incident, along with recent Chinese warnings to Philippine military aircraft to leave areas around the Spratly archipelago (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), which Taiwan also claims, in the South China Sea, suggests Beijing is trying to enforce a military exclusion zone above its new islands.
Some security experts worry about the risk of confrontation, especially after a US official said last week the Pentagon was considering sending military aircraft and ships to assert freedom of navigation around the Chinese-made islands.
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he was not aware of the incident.
“China has the right to engage in monitoring in the relevant airspace and waters to protect the country’s sovereignty and prevent accidents at sea,” ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) said in a regular briefing. “We hope the relevant country can earnestly respect China’s sovereignty in the South China Sea.”
Footage taken by the P8-A Poseidon and aired by CNN showed a hive of construction and dredging activity on the new islands the plane flew over, as well as Chinese navy ships nearby.
CNN said it was the first time the Pentagon had declassified video of China’s building activity and audio of challenges to a US aircraft.
“We were just challenged 30 minutes ago and the challenge came from the Chinese navy,” US Captain Mike Parker, commander of US surveillance aircraft deployed to Asia, told CNN aboard the flight.
“I’m highly confident it came from ashore; this facility here,” Parker said, pointing to an early warning radar station on the Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, 永暑礁).
Military facilities on Fiery Cross Reef, including a 3,000m runway, could be operational by the end of the year, one US commander recently told Reuters.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims.
In related news, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that China’s land reclamation around reefs in the area is undermining freedom and stability, and risks provoking tension that could even lead to conflict.
“As China seeks to make sovereign land out of sandcastles and redraw maritime boundaries, it is eroding regional trust and undermining investor confidence,” Blinken said at a conference in Jakarta.
“Its behavior threatens to set a new precedent whereby larger countries are free to intimidate smaller ones, and that provokes tensions, instability and can even lead to conflict,” he said.
Asked about Blinken’s remarks, the Chinese foreign ministry yesterday said the US should abide by the principle of not taking sides in the South China Sea, adding that Blinken’s comments damaged trust in the region.
“The US assumptions are groundless,” Hong told a regular briefing in Beijing.
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