KUALA LUMPUR – The Cabinet has decided to allow the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein to discuss with his counterpart in China on the intrusion by 16 aircrafts from that country in Malaysia’s airspace.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster), Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) had handled the issue earlier and its Chief, General Tan Sri Ackbal Abdul Samad had announced about the details of the intrusion.
“However, yesterday, the Cabinet has agreed that the discussion should be made between two Foreign Ministers of each country. I was told that Hishammuddin will be attending the ASEAN Plus Summit in China where they can meet, discuss and seek a solution,” he said.
Yesterday, the RMAF revealed that it has detected 16 suspicious People’s Liberation Army-Air Force (PLAAF) aircrafts from China entering the airspace of Malaysian Maritime Zone, Kota Kinabalu and flying close to the national airspace on 31 May.
Ackbal said, the aircrafts were detected by the RMAF Air Defence Radar from the Air Defence Centre in Sarawak at 11.53am.
The aircrafts comprising Ilyushin il-76 and Xian Y-20 strategic transporters, had travelled in an “in-trail” tactical formation at between 23,000 and 27,000 feet at a distance of 60 nautical miles from each other. They flew in a long formation with the same pattern and direction, using a single entry and exit point of passage.
According to Ismail Sabri, immediate actions have been taken by the Malaysian government yesterday by summoning the Chinese Ambassador and gave him a notice of protest.
“We will not allow the sovereignty of our country to be breached by anyone and the RMAF has carried out that duty,” he said. –MalaysiaGazette
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