Photo provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines shows construction on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef in the Spratly Islands. STAR/Armed Forces of the Philippines, file
MANILA, Philippines — China’s efforts to land a military plane to a Manila-claimed reef in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea was provocative, the Department of National Defense (DND) said on Thursday.

“(The landing) is definitely provocative (since) we have always (say) that we will address the issue through peaceful, diplomatic and the approach through UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea),” DND spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez said.

On Sunday, China’s navy dispatched a military plane to Kagitingan or Fiery Cross Reef, a part of the Spratly Group of Islands, to pick up three injured construction workers.

A few months ago, the first visitors of China’s newly-built airport in the Fiery Cross Reef were wives and children of garrison soldiers and officers on the island.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/04/22/1575634/dnd-chinas-landing-aircraft-fiery-cross-was-provocative