Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry is expected to meet with China’s ambassador after 16 military aircraft from the latter purportedly intruded Malaysian airspace on Monday.
Malaysia is seeking an explanation from China and plans to issue a “note of diplomatic protest” after the “breach of the Malaysian airspace and sovereignty,” the ministry said yesterday. An unnamed spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Malaysia said that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes, which were flying in tactical formation towards Sarawak, were deployed as part of routine flight training.
“Malaysia’s stand is clear – having friendly diplomatic relations with any countries does not mean that we will compromise on our national security,” Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, said in a statement yesterday. It is not known when the meeting will take place.
The Chinese spokesperson quoted in several local news reports said that the aircraft, which were detected by the Air Defence Centre in Sarawak at 11:53am, were not targeting any country, adding that China and Malaysia were friendly neighbors.
“Chinese military aircraft enjoy the freedom of overflight in the relevant airspace,” the person reportedly said. “During this training, the Chinese military aircraft strictly abided by the relevant international law and did not enter the territorial airspace of any other country.”
The Royal Malaysian Air Force, or RMAF, said yesterday that the Malaysian Air Traffic Control had instructed China’s Ilyushin Il-76 and Xian Y-20 strategic transport planes to turn back, however, the “suspicious” aircraft went on to fly towards Sarawak waters. The RMAF then scrambled Hawk 208 fighter jets from the 6th Squadron of the Labuan Air Base to intercept the foreign planes, which eventually turned around and left in the same direction they entered the Malaysian Maritime Zone.
RMAF noted that the Chinese planes, which can be used to carry out various missions, were detected flying between 23,000 feet and 27,000 feet above sea level at a speed of 290 knots.
Last year, it was reported that the Chinese coast guard and navy ships intruded Malaysian waters 89 times between 2016 and 2019. The intrusions happened in the hotly disputed South China Sea.
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