China’s air force flies combat patrol over disputed islands
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filipinos and Vietnamese residents shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally outside the Chinese Consulate to call on China to respect the international arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines on the disputed group of islands in the South China Sea Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. The protesters denounced China over its continued defiance of the Tribunal ruling and warned it’s alleged violations of its obligations “will surely damage its credibility and worsen its image in the international arena.”
BEIJING >> China’s air force said Saturday that it has conducted a combat air patrol over disputed areas of the South China Sea to improve its fighting ability.
The announcement comes after Beijing said it wanted to tamp down tensions following its strong rejection of an international tribunal that ruled that its claim to virtually all of the South China Sea has no legal basis.
China refused to take part in the case taken by the Philippines to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration and continues to assert that islands in the South China Sea are its territory.
The air force didn’t say when the exercises took place. Last month, after the July 12 ruling, the air force said that it had conducted patrols over the South China Sea and would make it “a regular practice.”
Air force spokesman Senior Col. Shen Jinke said in an online statement that the patrol was “to enhance combat capabilities to deal with various security threats” and to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
Shen said bomber and fighter aircraft, early warning aircraft, reconnaissance planes and planes that can refuel in flight patrolled the airspace around the Spratly Islands, Scarborough Shoal and surrounding areas.
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The Spratlys and Scarborough Shoal are claimed by both China and the Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim the Spratlys.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S., Japan and Australia were “fanning the flames” of regional tensions after they released a joint statement urging China not to construct military outposts or reclaim land in disputed waters.
On Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that “China stands ready to continue its efforts to peacefully resolve relevant disputes in the South China Sea.”
Meanwhile, in the Philippines on Saturday, about 300 Vietnamese and Filipino protesters called on China to comply with the decision of the arbitration tribunal in a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Manila.
“The more it defies the ruling, the more credibility it loses,” Vietnamese protester Nguyen Quoc Giang said.
Former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said at the rally that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s government should show more vigor in standing up to China while maintaining trade and diplomatic ties with the Asian economic powerhouse.
6 responses to “China’s air force flies combat patrol over disputed islands”
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It is not our problem. We shouldn’t get involved.
Filipino lives don’t matter.
Filipinos threw us out of their country. They knew future defense was their responsibility.
Unfortunately, our South East Asian allies and friends should get used to China’s presence, and probable sovereign rights in the disputed area. No one is planning on doing anything about China’s continued incursions. Laws only work when they are recognized as such. There is nothing in the world to make anyone, anything, any state, abide by rules short of brutal force.
Europeans claims on North America had no legal basis, but it occurred anyway. Most claims by world powers have no legal basis.
(The first English and French claims in North America may have contravened the Treaties of Tordesillas and Zaragoza which divided the non-European world between Castile (Spain) and Portugal. It’s been going on for quite a while.)