Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday condemned the Chinese air force for conducting “unjustified, illegal, and reckless” maneuvers over the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
According to the Philippine military, two Chinese aircraft dropped flares into the flight path of a Philippine light transport plane on Thursday as it flew over the Scarborough Shoal.
Two unnamed Philippine defense officials told the Associated Press (AP) that Chinese jets flew at a “very close distance” to the Philippine turboprop aircraft and popped at least eight flares. They said the Chinese maneuver “put the lives of our pilots in real risk and danger.”
“The incident posed a threat to Philippine Air Force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation,” Philippine Defense Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said on Saturday.
On Sunday, Marcos Jr. said China’s “reckless” actions jeopardized a deconfliction agreement that the two nations reached just a few weeks ago.
“We have hardly started to calm the waters, and it is already worrying that there could be instability in our airspace,” Marcos said.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the provocative actions of the Chinese air force are “a response we should be acclimated to.”
Teodoro and the Philippine National Security Council called on China to resume deconfliction protocols and “cease all forms of provocative and hazardous acts.”
The Chinese Southern Theater Command refused to apologize for the dangerous intercept, insisting the Philippine plane of “illegally intruding” into Chinese airspace and disrupting Chinese military exercises.
“The on-site operation was professional, standardized, legitimate and justified,” the Chinese military command insisted.