Philippines demands China halt ‘dangerous actions’ in South China Sea

The Philippines accuses China of firing flares at one of its aircraft as it patrolled over the contested waterway.

The Philippines has demanded that China “cease all provocative and dangerous actions” after accusing it of recently firing at aircraft conducting patrols over the South China Sea.

The same aircraft also “faced harassment” from a Chinese jet fighter while on a surveillance flight near Scarborough Shoal on August 19, the Philippines’s South China Sea Task Force said on Saturday in a statement.

The two nations have had heightened maritime confrontations in recent months, causing fears of a conflict that could draw in the United States, a military ally of the Philippines.

“Such actions undermine regional peace and security, and further erode the image of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] with the international community,” the interagency task force said.

The aircraft, which belonged to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), in coordination with the coastguard, monitors and intercepts poachers encroaching on the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone.

The task force said the Chinese jet fighter, which was not provoked, deployed flares multiple times “at a dangerously close distance” from the BFAR aircraft.

“Its actions demonstrated hazardous intent that jeopardized the safety of the personnel onboard the BFAR aircraft,” the task force said.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said it conducted “countermeasures” against two Philippine military aircraft that flew into its airspace over Subi Reef – a fishing atoll that China has transformed into a militarised island base – on August 22, but did not comment on the August 19 event.

The incidents come the same week as the both countries accused each other of ramming vessels and other dangerous actions in the South China Sea, among the world’s busiest trade routes.

Tensions have been escalating between the two despite them reaching a deal in July to better manage some maritime disputes to “restore trust” and “rebuild confidence”.

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, and has a number of coastguard vessels in the waters to protect what it considers its territory. The Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei all contest China’s claims.

An international tribunal in 2016 said China’s claim has no basis under international law, awarding a landmark victory to the Philippines which filed the case.

China has built seven artificial islands in the South China Sea, equipping them with radar, runways and surface-to-air missiles.

It has bristled at military deployments by the US and its allies in the disputed region, saying their presence is a danger to regional security.