China lands first military plane on disputed island

Beijing landed a military plane on a disputed South China Sea reef it has built up into an artificial island, officials said yesterday, in the first confirmation of such a flight.

A Chinese air force plane landed on Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Reef, ) in the Spratly archipelago (Nansha Islands,) on Sunday to evacuate sick workers, a news report posted online by the Chinese Ministry of Defense said.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea, even waters close to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and has created artificial islands in an effort to assert its claims, despite conflicting claims from Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

China has significantly expanded Fiery Cross Reef, which is also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, drawing international criticism.

In 2014, China began work on a 3,000m-long runway on the reef, which is about 1,000km from its island province of Hainan.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2016/04/19/2003644283