This screenshot from a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) handout video taken on August 19, 2024, and obtained on August 24, 2024, shows a Chinese Air Force fighter jet deploying flares near a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft that was conducting a maritime domain awareness flight near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. | Photo credit: AFP
The Philippines on Saturday (August 24, 2024) accused China of firing flares at one of its aircraft during a recent patrol in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims much of the strategic waterway and has been involved in tense maritime confrontations with Manila in recent months, raising fears of an armed conflict that could involve the United States, a Philippine military ally.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said that on Aug. 19, when a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft was flying near Scarborough Shoal, a Chinese fighter jet “conducted irresponsible and dangerous maneuvers.”
The unprovoked Chinese “harassment” included “deploying flares multiple times at a dangerous distance of approximately 15 meters from the BFAR Grand Caravan aircraft,” the task force said in a statement released along with a video clip of the incident.
It said flares were also fired near the same aircraft from the Chinese-occupied Subi Reef on Aug. 22 as the patrol aircraft was “monitoring and interdicting poachers encroaching into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and territorial sea.”
Flares are commonly used to protect military aircraft from missiles, but they are also used for illumination.
The statement said China’s actions “demonstrated dangerous intent, endangering the safety of personnel on board the Philippine aircraft.”
US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson said in a post on X that her country “stands firmly (with the Philippines) in condemning the PRC (People’s Republic of China) for firing flares at (Philippine) aircraft flying legally near Scarborough and Subi Reefs.”
The two countries “called on the Republic of China to cease provocative and dangerous actions that undermine the #Free&OpenIndiaPacific.”
Sabina Shoal collision
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that on August 22 two Philippine military aircraft entered its airspace over Subi Reef, which Manila also claims.
The statement said the Chinese side had “taken necessary countermeasures in accordance with law to safeguard its sovereignty and security”, although it did not elaborate on what measures were taken.
The Chinese statement did not mention any August 19 incident in Scarborough airspace, which China took over from the Philippines at the end of the 2012 standoff.
The latest incident off Scarborough came just hours after a collision between Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels near Sabina Shoal, with the Philippine side reporting structural damage to both of its patrol vessels.
Sabina is located 140km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200km from the nearest Chinese landmass, Hainan Island.
The Philippines earlier accused the Chinese air force of carrying out “dangerous activities” and dropping flares in the path of a Filipino aircraft patrolling over Scarborough on August 10.
In June, the Philippine military said one of its sailors lost his thumb in a clash near Second Thomas Shoal when Chinese coast guards wielding sticks, knives and axes confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment, including guns.
Beijing has blamed Manila for escalating tensions and says its actions to defend its claims are legal and justified.
It continues to claim almost the entire South China Sea, even though an international tribunal has ruled that its claim has no legal basis.
Manila on Saturday urged Beijing to “immediately cease all provocative and dangerous actions that threaten the safety of Philippine ships and aircraft.”
“Such actions undermine regional peace and security and further tarnish the PRC’s image before the international community,” the statement said.