New | South China Sea reef rescue mission reveals ‘China’s rising maritime strength’
Report of Sunday’s evacuation of three construction workers from Fiery Cross Reef to Hainan hospital is first time PLA has publicly admitted such a landing
A Chinese military aircraft landed for the first time at a new airport on an island built in a contested part of the South China Sea on Sunday to evacuate three critically ill construction workers.
Mainland analysts said the mission also underscored China’s increased maritime strength in the region.
The aircraft made the landing during a patrol of the area, transferring the three workers from Fiery Cross Reef – an artificial island China built in the Spratlys – to Sanya in Hainan province, PLA Daily reported on its website on Sunday.
This [rescue mission] has proved the Chinese navy’s capacity in air rescue, which would not have been possible without the expanded naval capacity and facilities built on the island in recent year
The navy sent the aircraft after receiving an emergency call from the construction site on the reef, the report said. The three workers had to be taken to more advanced medical facilities because of the site’s limited health care equipment, it added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said yesterday that providing emergency relief to citizens was part of the military’s duties and Sunday’s operation “on Chinese soil is not surprising”.
It was the first time China’s military had publicly admitted landing an aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, Global Times reported.
One of the three workers had gastrointestinal bleeding, another spinal fractures, and the third was believed to have either kidney stones or appendicitis. All three were admitted to a hospital in Sanya after the aircraft touched down at Sanya Phoenix International Airport.
“This [rescue mission] has proved the Chinese navy’s capacity in air rescue, which would not have been possible without the expanded naval capacity and facilities built on the island in recent years,” said retired major general Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant of the Chinese Military Disarmament Control Council.