China lands more civilian planes on Fiery Cross reef

The uninhabited islands are in the East China Sea, 330 km from China’s coast, 170 km northwest of the Japanese island of Ishigaki and a similar distance north of Taiwan.

Wednesday’s test flights followed one over the weekend that marked the first trip to Fiery Cross Reef, which brought a protest from fellow claimant Vietnam. The airstrip is long enough to accommodate a variety of aircraft including 4-engine jets, military transport planes, and the nation’s most advanced fighters. China has made multiple claims that it intends to use the territory for peaceful purposes such as scientific research, but the islands aren’t necessary for oceanic surveys and building them has done more damage to local ecosystems than studies could hope to remedy.

China performed a series of test flights for the first time Saturday on a newly constructed runway in the South China Sea.

Vietnam launched a formal diplomatic protest while Philippines Foreign Ministry spokesman Charles Jose said Manila was planning to do the same.

Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Asked about McCain’s remarks on Tuesday, Hua said: “We hope the USA can take an objective and fair attitude, and not make statements that confuse the situation and are harmful to regional peace and stability”.

Whether or not China formally establishes an Air Defense Identification Zone around Fiery Cross Reef remains to be seen. The article said that the airfield has been built with the aim of providing more access to transportation of materials, personnel, and medical services.

The satellite monitoring station in Ho Chi Minh City, once activated and linked up with another existing facility at Biak in Indonesia, is likely to give India a strategic edge in and around South China Sea region.

However, regional military officials say they are logging increased warnings to aircraft from Chinese radio operators, including some from ground stations on Fiery Cross reef.

US and Asian military analysts fear that eventually China will turn the 3,000 meter airstrip into a military facility and dictate movement of ships and planes in worldwide waters and threaten free trade and commerce in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

In Washington, McCain said that the lack of U.S. action, after a navy patrol near the islands in October, was allowing China to continue to “pursue its territorial ambitions” in the region.