The Philippines on Thursday (January 7) rejected China’s test flights on an artificial island in the disputed Spratlys, expressing concern over the imposition of an air defence identification zone in the South China Sea.
On Wednesday (January 6), China landed two test flights on Fiery Cross Reef, four days after it angered Vietnam with a landing on the same runway in the disputed territory, actions that further raised tensions in the region.
“If this is not challenged, we will have a situation where China will take a position that ADIZ could be imposed. Whether this is done in terms of a de facto basis or whether it is official, of course this will be deemed as unacceptable to us,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told a news conference.
“We are very concerned and we are of course following these developments because these are provocative actions which we need to think about and we need to take positions on.”
He said the Philippines will protest China’s provocative activities.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who is on a tour of three Asian countries, including China and Japan, said all parties should respect international law.
“Freedom of navigation and overflight are non-negotiable. They are red lines for us, we will maintain the position that we as an international maritime and trading nation enjoy freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. We expect to continue exercising those rights,” Hammond said in the same news conference after bilateral talks to strengthen defence, trade and investments between Manila and London.
The United Kingdom is the Philippines’ largest trade and investments partner in Europe and a major source of defence equipment, like helicopters, armoured vehicles, and ships patrolling the South China Sea.
Hammond said the United Kingdom does not take sides in the dispute and called on all parties to exercise restraint, avoiding anything that will raise tensions.
“Britain’s position is these disputes should be resolved in accordance with the proper processes of international law and we do recognise the tribunal, and we will recognise the decision of the tribunal,” Hammond said, remarking on the arbitration case filed by Philippines in The Hague on the territorial disputes, which China refused to recognise.
The runway at the Fiery Cross Reef is 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) long and is one of three China has been building for more than a year by dredging sand up onto reefs and atolls in the Spratly archipelago.
Analysts say these runways would be long enough to handle long-range bombers and transport aircraft as well as China’s best jet fighters, giving it a presence deep in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia that it has lacked until now.
More than $5 trillion of world trade is shipped through the South China Sea every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines have rival claims on the sea believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.
