McCain blasts Obama administration for lack of action in South China Sea

“Vietnam resolutely protests China’s above-mentioned action, asking China to immediately end while not repeating similar move”, said foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh in Hanoi.

China rejected Hanoi’s protest and will likely dismiss Manila’s concerns too.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Saturday that the flight is to test whether the airfield facilities can meet civil aviation standards.

The South China Sea has also become a growing source of tension between Washington and Beijing.

China is asserting sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, which is also claimed in whole or in part by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

“The test flight of China in Kagitingan Reef has definitely raised tensions in the region”, he added.

“We will file it in due course”, Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said of the protest.

At the same time, the spokeswoman also says that establishment of an Air Defense Identification Zone in the region is not on the table for the moment.

Satellite images published by IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly in April showed China building the airstrip on reclaimed land on Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands.

It called the flight “a serious infringement of the sovereignty of Vietnam on the Spratly archipelago”.

“This development underscores the pressing need for claimants to publicly commit to a reciprocal halt to further land reclamation, construction of new facilities and militarisation of disputed features, and the need for China and ASEAN to expeditiously conclude a Code of Conduct”, the Pentagon said.

Hua, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Monday that there were no immediate plans for an ADIZ in the South China Sea.

Senator John McCain on Monday criticized the White House for delaying any future “freedom of navigation” patrols near artificial islands that China has built in the disputed South China Sea. “Meanwhile, we hope the relevant countries will not flex their military muscles by using fighter jets, instead (they) should take more practical actions to protect peace and stability in the South China Sea area with China”.

In October, the US deployed a guided missile destroyer near a different reef to challenge Beijing’s claim of sovereignty in the waters around the artificial islands.