“I will also relay Malaysia’s serious concern on the matter to my counterpart in China,” foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in a brief statement.

The ministry will also issue a “diplomatic note of protest” to Beijing against the intrusion.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) said today Malaysian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept 16 People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes over Malaysian airspace yesterday.

The “suspicious” planes were detected by the Air Defence Centre in Sarawak at 11.53am, flying “in tactical formation” when entering the Malaysian Maritime Zone (ZMM).

RMAF scrambled Hawk 208 fighter jets from the Labuan Air Base’s 6th Squadron to intercept the planes after there was no response from them on orders to turn back.

Instead, they headed towards Sarawak waters.

The Chinese planes eventually turned around and left in the same direction they entered the ZMM.

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