Home Asia China Says Three Philippine Aircraft Expelled From Spratly Islands

China Says Three Philippine Aircraft Expelled From Spratly Islands

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
Philippine Air Force A-29B Super Tucano and A-10 Warthog in an arrowhead formation during the Iron Swat exercise 2024. Image courtesy: Facebook/PFA

China’s military reported that it warned and expelled three Philippine aircraft for “illegally intruding” into airspace near the Spratly Islands on Thursday.

There was no immediate comment from the Philippine embassy in Beijing on the Chinese military’s statement issued on Friday.

China Condemns Philippine ‘Provocation’

China’s Southern Theatre Command accused the Philippine side of attempting to “peddle its illegal claims” through provocation, and warned that the “clumsy manoeuvre is doomed to failure”.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, putting it at odds with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

A 2016 arbitration ruling invalidated China’s expansive claim but Beijing does not recognise the decision.

‘Maritime Domain Awareness Flight’

On Thursday, the Philippines said its coast guard and fisheries bureau had jointly carried out a maritime domain awareness flight over the Kalayaan Islands, the Philippine name for Spratly Islands.

The mission was to assert the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, it said.


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More than 50 Chinese maritime militia vessels and a Chinese coast guard ship were spotted during the exercise.

It was not immediately clear if that mission, which deployed two aircraft, was the one Chinese military said it responded to.

Confrontation Continues

The latest confrontation comes after the Philippine coast guard accused the Chinese navy of performing dangerous flight manoeuvres earlier this week when it flew close to a government aircraft patrolling the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Last month, the Philippines said it had halted a scientific research survey in the South China Sea following reports of “harassment” and aggressive actions by China’s coast guard and navy toward two of its fisheries vessels.

China, however, disputed these accounts.

Manila and Beijing have had a series of escalating confrontations in disputed waters of the South China Sea.

(With inputs from Reuters)