China tells US Navy surveillance plane to leave after filming reclamation work in disputed sea

IT’S the ambitious building project China doesn’t want us to see. And when a US military plane flew over to film what is going on, things got testy.

CHINA says it is entitled to keep watch over airspace and seas surrounding artificial islands it created in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, following an exchange in which its navy warned off a US surveillance plane.

The US Navy P8-A Poseidon plane flew over the Fiery Cross Reef, where China is building man-made islands to claim as sovereign territory.

The area is home to some of the world’s busiest commercial shipping routes and is also claimed in part or in whole by the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. The US and a group of 10 South-East Asian countries want the project stopped.

A news crew from CNN reported it witnessed an incident Wednesday in which a Chinese navy dispatcher demanded eight times that the US surveillance aircraft leave the area as it flew over to look at the reclamation work.

When the US crew responded that they were flying through international airspace, the Chinese dispatcher answered: “This is the Chinese navy ... You go!”

The US says its aerial patrolling was in accordance with international law.

Photos by satellite-imagery provider DigitalGlobe shows what is believed to be Chinese vessels dredging sand in the South China Sea.

CNN said it was given exclusive permission to board the surveillance flight because the US wants to raise awareness of China’s island building project. It also said it was the first time the Pentagon had declassified audio of the Chinese making such challenges.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank posted more video overnight of the aerial patrol above the Spratly island chain which it said had been released by the US Navy.

Speaking at a regular daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reiterated Beijing’s insistence on its indisputable sovereignty over the islands it has created by piling sand on top of atolls and reefs.

While saying he had no information about the reported exchange, Hong said China was “entitled to the surveillance over related airspace and sea areas so as to maintain national security and avoid any maritime accidents.

“We hope relevant countries respect China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea, abandon actions that may intensify controversies and play a constructive role for regional peace and stability,” Hong told reporters at a daily news briefing.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters: “I saw the video. I don’t think I’d call it a confrontation. There were certainly verbal warnings given by the Chinese. It’s unclear on what basis they issued these warnings.”

“US military planes operate in accordance with international law in disputed areas of the South China Sea. So the US military has and will continue to operate consistent with the rights, freedoms and lawful use of the sea in the South China Sea,” she said.

A photo taken through the window of a military plane shows China's alleged on-going reclamation of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

China’s construction has intensified frictions among competing parties in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety along with its scattered island groups.

The US and most of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations want a halt to the projects, which they suspect are aimed at building islands and other land features over which China can claim sovereignty and base military assets.

The US says it takes no position on the sovereignty claims but insists they must be negotiated. Washington also says ensuring maritime safety and access is a US national security priority.

China is also at odds with Japan over ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by Beijing, leading to increased activity by Chinese planes and ships in the area, which lies between Taiwan and Okinawa.

Both sides have accused the other of operating dangerously, prompting fears of an incident such as the 2001 collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US surveillance plane in which the Chinese pilot was killed and the American crew detained on China’s Hainan island.

People’s Liberation Army air force spokesman Shen Jinke said Thursday’s exercises were held in international airspace but gave no specifics. In its report on the drills, state broadcaster CCTV showed a video of Xian H-6 twin-engine bombers, a Chinese version of Russia’s Tupelov Tu-16, in flight and landing at an air base, although it wasn’t clear when the video was shot.

Along with the longstanding island dispute, China raised tensions in November 2013 when it declared an air defence identification zone over a large swathe of the East China Sea that would require foreign aircraft to announce their flight plans and follow Chinese instructions.

The zone was immediately denounced by Japan, the US and others, and the US air force mounted an immediate challenge by flying a pair of B-52 bombers through it unannounced.