Beijing claims most of the strategic waterway and has been involved in tense maritime confrontations with Manila in recent months, sparking fears of armed conflict that could draw in the United States, a Filipino military ally.
A Chinese fighter jet "engaged in irresponsible and dangerous manoeuvres" on August 19 as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) plane flew near Scarborough Shoal, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.
The unprovoked Chinese "harassment" included "deploying flares multiple times at a dangerously close distance of approximately 15 metres from the BFAR Grand Caravan aircraft", the task force added in a statement accompanied by video clips of the incident.
Flares were also launched near the same plane from the China-held Subi Reef on August 22 as the patrol craft was "monitoring and intercepting poachers encroaching upon the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone and the territorial seas", it added.
Flares are usually employed by military aircraft as decoys to protect them from missiles, but also for illumination.
The statement said the Chinese actions "demonstrated hazardous intent that jeopardised the safety of the personnel onboard" the Filipino plane.
In a post on X, US ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson said her country "stands firmly with the (Philippines) in condemning the PRC (People's Republic of China) for launching flares at (Philippine) aircraft operating legally near Scarborough and Subi Reefs".
The two countries "call on the PRC to cease provocative and dangerous actions that undermine a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific".
- Sabina Shoal collision -
China's foreign ministry said on Friday that two Philippine military aircraft flew into its airspace over Subi Reef, which Manila also claims, on August 22.
The Chinese side undertook "necessary countermeasures in accordance with the law, in order to protect its own sovereignty and security", it said in a statement, without specifying the actions that were taken.
The Chinese statement did not mention any August 19 incident in the airspace of Scarborough, which China seized from the Philippines at the end of a 2012 standoff.
The latest Scarborough incident occurred hours after Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels collided near Sabina Shoal, with the Filipino side reporting structural damage on both of its patrol ships.
Sabina is located 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometres from Hainan island, the nearest Chinese landmass.
The Philippines had earlier accused the Chinese air force of making a "dangerous manoeuvre" and dropping flares in the path of a Filipino plane that was patrolling over Scarborough on August 10.
In June, the Philippine military said one of its sailors lost a thumb in a confrontation off Second Thomas Shoal when the Chinese coast guard, wielding sticks, knives and an axe, also confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment, including guns.
Beijing has blamed the escalation on Manila and maintains its actions to protect its claims are legal and proportional.
It has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Manila on Saturday urged Beijing to "immediately cease all provocative and dangerous actions that threaten the safety of Philippine vessels and aircraft".
"Such actions undermine regional peace and security, and further erode the image of the PRC with the international community," its statement said.
China says took 'countermeasures' against Philippine aircraft in South China Sea
Beijing (AFP) Aug 23, 2024 -
China took "countermeasures" against two Philippine military aircraft that flew into its airspace over the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
"On August 22, two Philippine military aircraft trespassed into the airspace near the Nansha Islands, including Zhubi Jiao (Subi Reef), where China is stationed," Beijing's foreign ministry told AFP in a statement.
It added that "the Chinese side took necessary countermeasures in accordance with the law, in order to protect its own sovereignty and security".
The foreign ministry did not specify what types of measures China took, describing the actions as "professional, restrained, and standardised".
"China will continue to firmly protect its own territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, and firmly oppose any infringing actions," it added.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
China and the Philippines have had repeated confrontations in the waters in recent months, including around a warship grounded years ago by Manila on the contested Second Thomas Shoal.
This week, both countries confirmed that coast guard ships had collided in a pre-dawn incident near the disputed Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometres (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometres from Hainan island, the closest Chinese landmass.
That clash led the United States -- a key military ally of the Philippines -- to condemn what it called China's "dangerous actions" against "lawful Philippine maritime operations".
Analysts have said Beijing's aim is to push eastwards from the Second Thomas Shoal towards the neighbouring Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands, encroaching on Manila's exclusive economic zone and normalising Chinese control of the area.
Both sides have in recent months stationed coast guard vessels near Sabina, where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.
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