BEIJING: China on Saturday warned the Philippines to stop “infringement” and “Provocation” around a disputed reef in the South China Sea, after the Philippines said one of its planes was harassed by the Chinese air force.
“We strictly warn the Philippines to immediately halt its infringement, provocation, distortion and hype,” the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a statement, adding that “China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal) and adjacent waters”.
This follows an incident where the Philippines claimed that a Chinese military aircraft harassed one of its surveillance planes.
The dispute flared up after the Philippine military reported that two Chinese Air Force aircraft executed a “dangerous manoeuvre” on August 8, 2024. According to General Romeo Brawner, the chief of the Philippine armed forces, the Chinese planes dropped flares in the path of a Philippine NC-212i turboprop, which was conducting maritime security operations over Scarborough Shoal.
“The dangerous actions of the Chinese aircraft endangered the lives of our personnel and interfered with our lawful operations,” Brawner said. The Philippine plane and its crew were unharmed and returned safely to an air base in the northern Philippines.
China, in response, defended its actions, stating that its naval and air forces had been deployed to “lawfully drive away” the Philippine aircraft following repeated warnings. The Southern Theater Command emphasized that its measures were part of standard operations aimed at safeguarding China’s territorial claims.
The incident is part of a broader and increasingly tense standoff between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea, a strategically crucial and resource-rich area claimed almost in its entirety by China. Scarborough Shoal, located about 240 kilometers west of the Philippines’ Luzon Island, has been a flashpoint in these territorial disputes since China seized it in a 2012 standoff.
In June, tensions were similarly high when the Philippine military reported that a sailor lost a thumb in a confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal, and Chinese coastguard forces had also seized or destroyed Philippine equipment.
Following the June clash, both countries agreed to a “provisional arrangement” to facilitate the resupply of Filipino troops stationed on a grounded warship at Second Thomas Shoal. The agreement also included measures to enhance communication between the two nations to manage ongoing disputes.
The recent aerial confrontation occurred shortly after China conducted a combat patrol near Scarborough Shoal, purportedly to test the “strike capabilities” of its forces.
The Philippine military has condemned the incident as a violation of international law and a threat to regional aviation safety. The Chinese aircraft involved were reportedly multi-role fighter jets, according to a Philippine military spokesman.
Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks, is 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.
