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Opinion | Malaysia’s airspace ‘violation’ row with China highlights confusing military overflight rules
- US unilaterally set a precedent for air defence identification zones. But that doesn’t justify dictating rules, especially with no international pact in place
- In practice, Malaysia is supporting China’s view of what foreign military aircraft can do in airspace under its supervision
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Malaysia has vehemently protested about what it says was the suspicious flight of Chinese military transport planes in tactical formation within 60 nautical miles of its territory.
US defence officials must be laughing. Malaysia’s complaint against China is similar to China’s complaint against US practice over its near seas. In addition to the irony, there is confusion as to the international rules and practice governing such military overflights.
Some analysts reacted strongly. Collin Koh, a Singapore-based analyst, said that “it is not only blatant intimidation, but also predatory and opportunistic”. Victor Shih, associate professor at the University of California, San Diego, said it was “a preview of what would happen if the US were to withdraw from the West Pacific”.
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Malaysia’s primary complaint seems to be that the aircraft did not respond to queries and instructions from its air traffic control centre and it felt compelled to scramble fighter jets to make a visual identification. It saw it as a test of its defences, whether intended or not.
The Malaysian Air Force said the incident was “a serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety due to the air traffic density over the airways”. Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said it would raise the issue at the Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Chongqing on June 7.
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Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’
Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’
China insisted its warplanes were within international law. “This is a routine training activity carried out by the Chinese air force in waters south of the Nansha Islands [China’s name for the disputed Spratly Islands] and is not targeted at any country,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.
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