The Philippine national government will protest China’s landing a plane on an airstrip it has built on an artificial island, the Fiery Cross Reef (Kagitingan Reef), which was claimed by China, Philippines, and Vietnam. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed the activities of China in an artificial island in the hotly contested Spratly archipelago.
In an official statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, they that Beijing had completed construction of an airfield on Philippine-claimed Fiery Cross Reef, and recently used a civilian plane to conduct a flight testing whether the facilities were up to civil-aviation standards.
China’s statement immediately drew protest from Vietnam, which also claims Kagitingan, calling the reef Da Chu Thap. The Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh, said that the airstrip had been “built illegaly” on the reef in a Spratly territory that was “part of Vietnam.”
Vietnam noted that the Chinese test flight violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, breached mutual understanding and hurt bilateral relations between China and Vietnam.
Philippine Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., on his part said in a text message that the DFA would protest the Chinese action. The DFA spokesperson Charles Jose also said that the department would “also be lodging a protest” with China over the test flight to Kagitingan.
The Kagitinga Reef or the Fiery Cross Reef was part of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) that belonged to the Philippines.
Besides Kagitingan, China has built artificial islands on Calderon (Cuarteron), Burgos (Gaven), Mabini (Johnson South), Panganiban (Mischief), Zamora (Subi) and McKennan (Hughes) reefs, all claimed by the Philippines and within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).