The chief of the Philippine armed forces on Saturday accused China of dangerous flight maneuvers near a contested part of the South China Sea as tensions between the U.S. ally and its powerful neighbor continue to run high.
Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said a pair of Chinese fighter jets fired flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force NC-212i medium cargo plane while it was on a "routine maritime patrol" over Scarborough Shoal on Thursday morning.
The reef, known in Manila as Bajo de Masinloc and in Beijing as Huangyan Island is a rich fishing grounds within the exclusive economic zone accorded to the Philippines under international maritime law. Chinese forces seized effective control over the feature in 2012 and expelled local fishermen from its waters on multiple occasions.
In September 2023, the Philippines vowed to step up patrols in the area after its coast guard reportedly dismantled a floating barrier set up by China to block Philippine fishing boats. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has repeatedly vowed he won't yield "one inch" of Philippine territory.
Video footage shared with the Philippine Daily Inquirer shows one plane dropping the flares from a short distance as it passes the Philippine turboprop on the left.
The Philippine military "strongly condemns the dangerous and provocative actions of the (Chinese) People's Liberation Army," Brawner said, adding that the flares had "endangered the lives of our personnel." The official said the Philippine crew returned to Clark Air Base, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila.
The Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said in a statement Saturday that the Philippine plane had "insisted on illegally intruding into the airspace of Scarborough Shoal" after multiple warnings. The Command added its pilots had warned and driven away the plane "in accordance with the law."
The incident occurred as Philippine, U.S., Canadian, and Australian naval forces trained elsewhere within the Philippine EEZ, with Chinese warships reportedly watching the drills from a distance.
During the drills, the Southern Theater Command announced it had launched a naval patrol around Scarborough Shoal. In its statement, the command said it was looking out for "any military activity attempting to stir up trouble in the South China Sea."
In July, Beijing and Manila announced they'd reached an understanding to reduce tensions in the contested sea.
Though official statements from both sides have since indicated different interpretations of that agreement, the latest Philippine resupply run to a contentious military outpost at the Spratly Islands' Second Thomas Shoal proceeded without incident, marking a de-escalation from the violent clash in June that left several Philippine troops injured.
"Just when the waters of the West Philippine Sea seemed to show calm, the airspace above it was disturbed with acts of aggression. Our pilots and crew responded with focus, restraint, and professionalism," read a statement from the Philippine national task force responsible for the area.
The West Philippine Sea is the country's term for areas of the South China Sea lying within its EEZ.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.
Last week's incident was not the first in which China used flares in an intercept with foreign air assets.
In May, Australia rebuked a Chinese fighter jet for releasing flares in the path of a helicopter helping enforce United Nations sanctions against North Korea in international waters. Canada's defense forces protested a similar unsafe approach in October.
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