 Hanoi slams 'erroneous statements' on China island flights Hanoi (AFP) Jan 13, 2016 - Hanoi accused Beijing of making "erroneous statements" in the latest round of an escalating diplomatic spat over flights to a disputed reef in the South China Sea. China has conducted several flights this year through Vietnamese airspace to a newly built runway on the Fiery Cross reef in the Spratly Island group, which is claimed by both countries. Vietnam has accused Beijing of threatening regional safety with the "unannounced" flights, but China hit back, arguing it has the right to conduct "state aviation activities". Hanoi fired off the latest barb late Tuesday in the increasingly bitter diplomatic spat, saying China was making "erroneous statements" by claiming it had informed Vietnamese air traffic control about the flights. "Ho Chi Minh... Control Centre did not receive any notification by China of the flight plans," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Le Hai Binh said in a statement released late Tuesday. The flights are "aimed at asserting their illegal sovereignty claims over the Trong Sa archipelago," he said, referring to the Spratlys by their Vietnamese name. Vietnam this year logged at least 46 incidents of Chinese planes flying without warning through airspace monitored by air traffic control in the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, according to authorities cited by local media. State media also reported that Vietnam sent a protest letter about the flights to Beijing, as well as the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Beijing began work in 2014 on a 3,000-metre (9,800-foot) runway on Fiery Cross reef, around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from China's island province of Hainan. China's claim to almost all of the South China Sea puts it at odds with regional neighbours the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which also stake partial claims.
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The Philippines is set to offer the US military use of eight bases, a military spokesman said Wednesday, after the country's supreme court upheld a security agreement with Washington forged in the face of rising tensions with China.
The facilities include the former US Clark airbase and air and naval facilities on the southwestern island of Palawan which faces the South China Sea, the focus of territorial disputes with China.
Military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said the facilities would be used to store equipment and supplies.
He added that the offer had still to be finalised after the Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 10-year security accord.
The decision allows for the full implementation of the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014 but not implemented due to legal challenges from groups opposed to US military involvement in the Philippines, a US colony from 1898 to 1946.
It will see more US troops rotate through the Philippines for war games and help Manila build military facilities.
"We have resumed talks now that there is a go-signal that EDCA is constitutional," Padilla said.
"We are continuing talks and we will finalise the agreement on the locations," he said without giving a timetable when the decision would be reached.
The Philippines hosted two of the largest overseas US military bases until 1992, when the senate voted to end their leases, a decision influenced by anti-US sentiment.
The new pact does not authorise a return of US bases.
China and the Philippines -- as well as Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan -- have conflicting claims to the South China Sea which is a major shipping lane, rich fishing ground and potential source of mineral resources.
The Philippines has been seeking closer defence ties with the United States, accusing China of increased aggressiveness in the South China Sea.
In April 2012, after a tense stand-off with Philippine ships, Chinese vessels took control of a shoal just 220 kilometres (135 miles) off the main Philippine island of Luzon.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino negotiated the EDCA to help the Philippines improve its military capabilities and draw the United States closer, partly to counter China's increasing presence.
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