KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says China will respect Malaysia's stance over the airspace intrusion issue by 16 People's Liberation Army-Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft on Monday.
The former prime minister said it is unlikely that Malaysia and China will antagonise each other over such matter.
"I think China will respect Malaysia's stance on this issue. We are not going to unnecessarily antagonise each other.
"Having that said, I do not know whether they (the aircraft) have flown into Malaysian airspace.
"I am told that the government will be calling China's ambassador to talk. What they talk to him (the outcome of the meeting), I do not know since I am no longer in the government," said Dr Mahathir, who is Langkawi member of parliament.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on Tuesday had said that Wisma Putra will issue a diplomatic note of protest and summon China's ambassador to seek an explanation from the ambassador regarding the incident.
Royal Malaysian Air Force chief General Tan Sri Ackbal Abdul Samad said RMAF had detected and intercepted 16 PLAAF aircraft which entered Malaysian airspace at 11.53am Monday.
RMAF continued with radar monitoring and several attempts were made to direct the PLAAF aircraft to contact Kota Kinabalu FIR air traffic control, but the instructions were ignored.
Hawk 208 aircraft from the Labuan airbase were scrambled to intercept the Chinese aircraft, determining them to be Ilyushin Il-76 and Xian Y-20 transport aircraft, which are capable of performing various missions.
However, a spokesman from the Chinese embassy in Malaysia had said the Chinese military aircraft did not enter any country's territorial airspace and were on routine training while abiding by international laws.
On a separate matter, Dr Mahathir said the government should have not allowed an Israeli plane that landed at the Singapore army base on Monday to fly over Malaysian airspace.
"The government should not have allowed the Israeli aircraft to fly in Malaysian airspace even if they have to go Singapore. They (the aircraft) can go (fly) outside Malaysian airspace (to Singapore)."
A Malaysian online news portal on Tuesday reported that an Israeli intelligence plane had landed at Singapore army base on May 24.
Citing defence news journal Defence Security Asia, the portal said the aircraft bearing the registration number 4X-AOO belonged to IAI-Elta, a major defence contractor for Tel Aviv specialising in intelligence as well as electronic systems for security applications.
An ST Engineering Aerospace spokesperson told Bernama that the demonstration for a company by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has been completed and that the plane was preparing to depart Singapore.
"The aircraft operated out of ST Engineering Aerospace facilities in Paya Lebar and the demonstration was carried out solely within Singapore airspace and territorial waters," the spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report.
