China insists it did nothing wrong after Malaysia complains about air force ‘intrusion’
- The foreign ministry in Beijing says Monday’s flight was a routine activity that was in accordance with international law
- Malaysia says 16 transport planes carried out ‘suspicious’ activities in the South China Sea, but one military source says only two aircraft were involved
China has rejected Malaysia’s complaints about its air force’s activities, saying on Wednesday that its warplanes had been conducting routine training in accordance with 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.
“During the training period, the Chinese air force strictly abided by international law and did not enter the airspace of other countries,” said Wang, adding that China had already communicated with Malaysia on the matter.
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Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’
The Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur issued a similar denial, with a spokesman saying “Chinese military aircraft enjoy the freedom of overflight in the relevant airspace”.
On Tuesday Malaysia’s foreign ministry said it would summon China’s ambassador to explain the “intrusion” by Chinese military planes into its exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese planes then moved to around 60 nautical miles (110 miles) off the coast of Sarawak and failed to follow an order to contact air traffic controllers overseeing the Kota Kinabalu flight information region (FIR).