China says it backs Maldives to safeguard sovereignty

China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.

Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives manning the operations of a helicopter left the



country after handing over the operations of the chopper to an Indian civilian crew, the Maldivian media reported on Monday.

Asked for his comments on the first batch of the Indian military personnel’s withdrawal from the Maldives, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he was not aware of the specifics.