US set to defy China’s claims

Test of China’s claims

The United States and most of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) want a halt to the land reclamation, which they suspect is aimed at building islands and other land features over which China can claim sovereignty and base military assets.

US officials have said they are weighing sending warships and surveillance aircraft within 22 km of the artificial islands to test Beijing’s controversial territorial claims.

But the move could raise tensions and lead to a standoff on the high seas—in an area vital to global shipping lanes.

The comments came after an American television crew aboard a P-8 Poseidon plane captured a tense radio exchange between the US aircraft and Chinese forces in the South China Sea on Wednesday.

“This is the Chinese Navy … This is the Chinese Navy … Please go away … to avoid misunderstanding,” a voice can be heard telling the Americans, according to a video of the exchange released by the US Navy.

The Chinese Navy issued eight such warnings during the P-8’s flight near the Philippine-claimed Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross Reef), one of the sites of Beijing’s massive land reclamation, CNN reported.

American pilots replied in each case that they were flying through “international airspace.”

During the Poseidon mission, the pilot of a Delta Air Lines flight in the area spoke on the same frequency after hearing the Chinese challenges and identified himself as commercial.

The Chinese voice reassured the pilot and the Delta flight went on its way, CNN said.

Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

READ: US planes keep distance from Chinese ‘islands’ — for now

Global attention

The Poseidon flew as low as 4,500 meters, CNN said, and a video provided by the Pentagon appeared to have been taken directly above one artificial island.

Journalists are rarely allowed to fly in a sophisticated P-8 spy plane, much less permitted to film inside the cockpit, as the CNN crew was.

The extraordinary access, along with the video released by the US Navy from the P-8’s flight, underscored Washington’s determination to focus global attention on China’s large-scale dredging work in the South China Sea.

The incident, along with recent Chinese warnings to Philippine military aircraft to leave areas around the Spratly archipelago suggested Beijing is trying to enforce a military exclusion zone above its new islands there.

The Chinese warnings to the US aircraft are typical and occur frequently, a navy official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“It’s not uncommon,” the official said.

And sometimes the Chinese send military aircraft to visually identify American planes in the area, the official added.

Risk of confrontation

Some security experts worry about the risk of confrontation, especially after US officials said last week that the Pentagon was considering sending military aircraft and ships to assert freedom of navigation around the Chinese-made islands.

China on Friday said it was “strongly dissatisfied” after the US surveillance flight, and called on the United States to stop such action or risk causing an accident.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said the Chinese military drove away the US aircraft, in accordance with relevant regulations, labeling the US action a security threat to China’s islands and reefs.