China, Vietnam in war of words over Chinese test flight in SCS

China today dismissed Vietnam's accusation over test landing of Chinese flights at a newly- built airport on a reclaimed island in the disputed South China Sea that threatened civilian traffic, in fresh war of words over the strategic area.
"China is shocked and confused by Vietnam's argument that its flights threatened civilian air traffic," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei told a media briefing here.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said in a statement on Tuesday that the notification from the Chinese Embassy "cannot substitute China's notification to the appropriate air traffic services units of Vietnam in order to ensure the safety and regularity of flight operations".

But, Hong rejected Vietnam's accusation that China did not inform the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam of its test flights and threatened the safety of civil aviation, saying that besides the notifications by competent authorities, China also made specific contact with Vietnam's diplomatic authorities on December 30 for technical notification and explanation.
Due to unreasonable obstruction from the Vietnamese side, China ultimately decided to turn the flights into a state aviation activity and sent civilian planes to complete the flights, he said.
On January 6, China conducted two test flights at its southernmost airport on Yongshu Jiao, which it claims to be developing for humanitarian purposes, including emergency landing and maritime rescue.

"We once again remind the Vietnamese side that China's inspection and test flights to the newly built airport on Yongshu Jiao was in line with international laws and practices," Hong said.

The South China Sea, which is rich in natural resources, is also a major shipping lane. Over half of the world's commercial shipping passes through the Indo-Pacific waterways, including one-third of the world's liquefied natural gas.
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with several other Asian nations like Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.
They accuse China of illegally reclaiming land in contested areas to create artificial islands with facilities that could potentially be for military use.