China’s military said it had intercepted three Philippine aircraft reportedly flying “illegally” over the disputed Spratly Islands. This is the second aerial standoff between China and the Philippines in a week in the volatile South China Sea area.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command spokesman Air Force Colonel Tian Junli stated that two Cessna 208 planes and an N-22 light aircraft were driven away on Thursday. The Philippine plane was blamed by the Southern Theatre Command for provocative actions to push Manila’s “illegal claims” in the disputed archipelago, Chinese state media said.
The Southern Theatre Command denounced the Philippines for so-called disregard for facts, claiming Manila has constantly misdescribed China’s legitimate rights-protection activities. The Philippines asserts sovereignty over a northwest part of the Spratly Islands, an archipelago of some 100 islands and reefs, while China claims sovereignty over the entire region.
The incident is a repeat of a near miss last week, when a Chinese People’s Liberation Army helicopter was said to have come as close as three meters to a Philippine Air Force aircraft near the Scarborough Shoal, a reef of rocks and dense fishing grounds. Scarborough Shoal is in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but has been under Chinese control since 2012.
Foreign news teams witnessed a 30-minute standoff on the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft where the Chinese helicopter was reminded of its risky close fly-by.
The incidents led the Southern Theatre Command to accuse the Philippines of military provocation intended to push its claims of sovereignty, stating that the acts are wasteful and misleading to the global community.
China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea have consistently pitted it against its neighbors, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. From 2013 onwards, China has constructed 20 outposts in the Paracel Islands and seven in the Spratly Islands, further aggravating tensions in the region.
In a connected development, it was reported last week that three Chinese warships had entered the exclusive economic zone of Australia within 150 nautical miles from Sydney. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles stated the presence “unusual but not unprecedented” while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reported that China had made a warning of imminent “live fire” naval exercise in international seas off Australia’s east coast and warned commercial aviation to avoid flying through the area.
