South China Sea: US military gives tacit backing to Malaysia’s claim 16 Chinese planes neared airspace

Name: Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’
Uploaded: 2021-06-07T15:30:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 58 s
Description: Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’

A Chinese military source had said only two planes were involved in last week’s incident, but a US Pacific Air Forces spokesman disputed that account

The ‘intrusion’ has sparked concerns that China seeks to test other claimant countries’ reactions – though some see a possible nod to international law

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A plane with a Chinese flag on its tail is seen in this handout picture from the Royal Malaysian Air Force. Photo: Royal Malaysian Air Force handout via Reuters

Amy Chewin Kuala Lumpur

Published: 11:30pm, 7 Jun 2021Updated: 1:20am, 8 Jun 2021

Malaysia’s claims that 16 Chinese aircraft came close to violating its sovereign airspace last week in a rare incident which Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein condemned as an “intrusion” has been given tacit backing by the US Pacific Air Forces.

The major command of the United States Air Force also expressed support for the Royal Malaysian Air Force, which scrambled jets on May 31 to visually confirm the Chinese planes that were detected within 60 nautical miles of the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak, flying in a “tactical formation”.

“We support our partners in the Royal Malaysian Air Force and encourage [China] to respect the sovereignty of all nations,” an officer from the Pacific Air Forces public affairs department told This Week In Asia at the weekend.

Last week, a source inside the Chinese military with direct knowledge of the information told the South China Morning Post that China had only dispatched two transport aircraft to the South China Sea and their mission was to deliver essential supplies to soldiers stationed in Chinese-held territory.

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Malaysia to summon Chinese envoy after airspace ‘intrusion’

Malaysia identified the aircraft as Ilyushin Il-76s and Xian Y-20s.

US Pacific Air Forces, however, said the number of Chinese aircraft was “closer to what the Royal Malaysian Air Force is tracking”, with the spokesman refusing to “get into the specifics about our collection methods” because of “operational security concerns”.

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