China is asserting its authority in the South China Sea

A Chinese military aircraft landed for the first time at a new airport on an island built in a contested part of the South China Sea on Sunday to evacuate three critically ill construction workers.

Mainland analysts said the mission also underscored China’s increased maritime strength in the region.

The aircraft made the landing during a patrol of the area, transferring the three workers from Fiery Cross Reef – an artificial island China built in the Spratlys – to Sanya in Hainan province, PLA Daily reported on its website on Sunday.

The navy sent the aircraft after receiving an emergency call from the construction site on the reef, the report said. The three workers had to be taken to more advanced medical facilities because of the site’s limited health care equipment, it added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said yesterday that providing emergency relief to citizens was part of the military’s duties and Sunday’s operation “on Chinese soil is not surprising”.

It was the first time China’s military had publicly admitted landing an aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, Global Times reported.

One of the three workers had gastrointestinal bleeding, another spinal fractures, and the third was believed to have either kidney stones or appendicitis. All three were admitted to a hospital in Sanya after the aircraft touched down at Sanya Phoenix International Airport.

“This [rescue mission] has proved the Chinese navy’s capacity in air rescue, which would not have been possible without the expanded naval capacity and facilities built on the island in recent years,” said retired major general Xu Guangyu, a senior consultant of the Chinese Military Disarmament Control Council.

Beijing-based air defence expert Fu Qianshao said the Fiery Cross airport, with its 3,000 metre-plus runway, was the biggest in the Spratlys. It was also more suited to bigger aircraft and heavy cargo transport planes than the smaller airports built on Subi and Mischief reefs, Fu said.

REUTERS/Romeo RanocoThe runway would be long enough to handle long-range bombers and transport aircraft as well as China’s best jet fighters, giving the country a presence deep in the maritime heart of Southeast Asia that it had lacked until now, Reuters reported.

Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the proven capacity of the Fiery Cross airport could allow the facility to be expanded into a South China Sea logistics base for naval equipment supply and coordination of maritime forces.

“This airport clearly has proven capacity in safeguarding China’s sovereignty in the Nansha Islands,” Li said, using the Chinese name for the Spratlys.

“It has also paved the way for the Chinese navy to take part in international rescue efforts, because the facilities built on the island could also facilitate navigation and serve other countries and international organizations.”

Li said the aircraft used in ­Sunday’s rescue mission was a Shaanxi ­Y-8, a mid-size, medium-range transport plane adapted into an air patrol aircraft due to its years of proven steady performance and versatility.

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