China sends 16 military aircraft over disputed South China Sea shoals near Malaysia

MELBOURNE, Australia — China has sent more than a dozen military transport aircraft to the vicinity of disputed shoals in the South China Sea administered by Malaysia, prompting the latter to scramble a fighter jet to investigate.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force, or RMAF, said in a news release that 16 Xi’an Y-20 and Ilyushin Il-76 airlifters of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, or PLAAF, approached to within 60 nautical miles (69 miles) of Malaysia’s coast.

The news release also said the Chinese force approached in a “tactical formation” and was first detected by an air defense radar in the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak at 11:53 a.m. local time on Monday.

It also said the as-yet unidentified aircraft were flying at 290 knots in a southwesterly direction in neighboring Singapore’s flight information region before turning to the south and crossing into international airspace administered by Malaysian air traffic control, operating at altitudes between 23,000 and 27,000 feet.

The aircraft failed to respond to several attempts by by Malaysian air traffic controllers to contact them, after which the RMAF scrambled BAE Systems-made Hawk 208 light combat jets from nearby Labuan air base at 1:33 p.m. after the “suspicious aircraft” were first sighted, to intercept and identify them.

Malaysia also released a map showing that the PLAAF jets flew past Luconia Shoals before turning back 60 nautical miles from the Malaysian coast in the vicinity of James Shoal. Both of these maritime features are claimed by Malaysia, and they are inside its exclusive economic zone. However, China also claims ownership of the shoals, with both located within China’s so-called nine-dash line, which it uses to lay claim to parts of the South China Sea. Luconia Shoals, which is known to Malaysia as Beting Petinggi Ali, has seen an almost constant presence by ships belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which bases its research on ship-tracking data.

This is not the first time PLAAF jets have approached Malaysia, although it appears to be the first time such a large force has been observed. Sources said the PLAAF transports involved in Monday’s incident originated from bases in China and not the air bases the country built on reclaimed islands in the South China Sea .

The lack of communication with air traffic control from the PLAAF aircraft and their routing near disputed shoals was described by the RMAF as a “serious matter that threatens national security and aviation safety.” Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein issuing a statement saying that Malaysia will issue a diplomatic protest against the overflight.

The flightpath of the Chinese aircraft suggests they were likely conducting a long-range airlift surge exercise. China’s embassy in Malaysia told Singapore’s Channel News Asia that the aircraft were conducting overflights in accordance with international law, stressing that they did not enter Malaysia’s territorial airspace.

It is also unclear whether the PLAAF jets communicated with Singaporean air traffic controllers as they flew through international airspace administered by that country, although flight-tracking websites showed a Gulfstream G550 airborne early warning aircraft belonging to the Republic of Singapore Air Force heading east over the South China Sea soon after the PLAAF jets were first picked up on Malaysian radar.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——中国向马来西亚管辖的南海争议岛礁附近派出了十几架军用运输机，促使马来西亚紧急派出一架战斗机进行调查。

马来西亚皇家空军（RMAF）在一份新闻稿中表示，中国人民解放军空军（PLAAF）的16架西安运-20和伊尔-76运输机接近马来西亚海岸线60海里（69英里）以内。

新闻稿还称，中国军队以“战术队形”接近，并于周一上午 11 点 53 分（当地时间）首次被马来西亚东部沙捞越州的防空雷达发现。

报告还称，这架尚未确定身份的飞机以 290 节的速度向西南方向飞越邻近的新加坡飞行情报区，然后转向南方，进入马来西亚空中交通管制管辖的国际空域，飞行高度在 23,000 至 27,000 英尺之间。

该飞机没有回应马来西亚空中交通管制员多次尝试联系他们的尝试，之后，马来西亚皇家空军在下午 1 点 33 分首次发现“可疑飞机”后，紧急从附近的纳闽空军基地起飞了 BAE 系统公司制造的 Hawk 208 轻型战斗机，以进行拦截和识别。

马来西亚还公布了一张地图，显示中国人民解放军空军战机飞越卢康尼亚浅滩后，在距离马来西亚海岸60海里处、靠近詹姆斯浅滩附近折返。马来西亚声称对这两个海域拥有主权，且它们都位于马来西亚的专属经济区内。然而，中国也声称对这两个浅滩拥有主权，它们都位于中国所谓的“九段线”内，中国用这条线来主张对南海部分海域的主权。据亚洲海事透明倡议组织（Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative）称，卢康尼亚浅滩（马来西亚称之为贝丁吉阿里浅滩）几乎一直有中国海警船出没。该组织的研究基于船舶追踪数据。

这并非解放军空军战机首次接近马来西亚，但如此大规模的兵力集结似乎是首次被发现。消息人士称，周一事件中涉及的解放军空军运输机来自中国境内的基地，而非中国在南海填海造岛兴建的空军基地。

马来西亚皇家空军（RMAF）称，解放军空军飞机缺乏与空中交通管制部门的沟通，且其航线靠近争议岛礁，是“严重威胁国家安全和航空安全的事件”。外交部长希沙姆丁·侯赛因发表声明称，马来西亚将就此次飞越事件提出外交抗议。

中国飞机的飞行路线表明，它们很可能是在进行远程空运突击演习。中国驻马来西亚大使馆告诉新加坡亚洲新闻台，这些飞机是根据国际法进行飞越的，并强调它们没有进入马来西亚领空。

目前还不清楚解放军空军战机在飞越新加坡管辖的国际空域时是否与新加坡空中交通管制员进行过沟通，尽管航班跟踪网站显示，在解放军空军战机首次被马来西亚雷达发现后不久，一架属于新加坡共和国空军的湾流G550空中预警机向东飞越南中国海。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。