Vietnam lodges complaint with United Nations on China’s placement of missile battery

Vietnam expressed on Friday its deep concern over the deployment by China of advanced surface-to-air missile systems on the Paracels by filing a formal protest with the United Nations.

“These are serious infringements of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Paracels”, foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said.

“We urge all claimants in the South China Sea to refrain from any building of islands, any militarisation of islands, any land reclamation”, Turnbull said in a joint press conference with his New Zealand counterpart John Key in Sydney.

The Labor opposition’s defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, has called on the government to send a military plane or ship within 12 nautical miles of disputed islands, because countries like Australia should “demonstrate that they are not prepared to be bullied by China” over the unresolved territorial claims. The Philippines said it was “gravely concerned” about the reports of missiles being deployed on Woody Island.

China claims most of the South China Sea and while Vietnam and Taiwan also claim both archipelagoes in their entirety, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei also claim part of the Spratlys.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said China should avoid “falling into the Thucydides Trap”, where “a rising power creates anxiety among other powers such that conflict occurs”. “The need for resolving disputes peacefully, without threat or actual use of force, can not therefore be underestimated”, Swaraj said, calling for “an inclusive, balanced, transparent, and open regional architecture” for security and cooperation in Asia-Pacific.

The move could complicate surveillance patrols carried out routinely by USA and Japanese aircraft as well as flights by U.S. B-52 long-range bombers, operations China objected to last November.

The Philippines’ statement echoed the United States’ worries over the Chinese missile deployment, which came just as US President Barack Obama held a summit with the leaders of Asean.

China has offered little specific response to the missile deployment reports, which first appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, but has accused Western media of “hyping up” the story and said China had a legitimate right to military facilities on territory it views as its own.

This image with notations provided by ImageSat International N.V., Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, shows satellite images of Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.