China makes civilian air landings at Mischief Reef, Subi Reef

Chinese civilian aircraft landed at two new airports on reefs controlled by China in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Wednesday (July 13), state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The aircraft then returned to the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, from where they had taken off, CCTV said.

The two islands they visited are called Mischief Reef and Subi Reef.

China vowed to take all necessary measures to protect its sovereignty over the South China Sea and said it had the right to set up an air defense zone, after rejecting an international tribunal's ruling denying its claims to the energy-rich waters.

Chinese state media called the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague a "puppet" of external forces after it ruled that China had breached the Philippines' sovereign rights by endangering its ships and fishing and oil projects. —Reuters