Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a statement on Sunday, condemning the actions of the Chinese Communist Air Force in the waters of the South China Sea as “unreasonable, illegal, and reckless”.
On Saturday, Romeo Brawner Jr., the commander of the Philippine Armed Forces, stated that the Chinese Communist Air Force harassed a Philippine aircraft conducting maritime patrol over Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, by dropping flares along the flight path of the Philippine plane. Brawner condemned the actions of the Chinese Communist Air Force as dangerous and provocative.
On Sunday, Marcos urged China to take responsible actions both in maritime and airspace.
The Philippine Presidential Communications Office released a statement on Facebook, expressing strong condemnation for the incident that occurred earlier in the week over Scarborough Shoal airspace and standing in solidarity with the brave Philippine Armed Forces, especially the Philippine Air Force. The statement described the actions of the Chinese Communist Air Force as “unreasonable, illegal, and reckless, especially considering that the Philippine Air Force aircraft was conducting routine maritime security operations in Philippine sovereign airspace”.
“We were barely calming the situation at sea when we are already worried about possible instability in our airspace,” the statement said.
This is the first time the Philippines has complained about the dangerous actions of Chinese aircraft since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office as President of the Philippines in 2022. The Philippines has long criticized the dangerous behaviors of the Chinese navy or coast guard ships.
China, on the other hand, blames the Philippines. The Southern Theater Command alleges that the Philippine Air Force aircraft illegally entered the airspace over Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea and that China conducted professional, normative, and legitimate operations on site.
According to Reuters, Chester Cabalza, the chairman of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation Organization (IDSC), stated that the actions of the Chinese military are a form of “show of force” aimed at retaliating against the Philippines for participating in promoting freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea through multinational joint exercises.
He mentioned that after employing a series of gray-zone tactics at sea, if China continues to escalate confrontations in the Philippine airspace and defense zone, “we might see dog fights in the air”.
Scarborough Shoal is one of the two hotspots where the Philippines and China have long been embroiled in maritime disputes. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea using the “nine-dash line”, which overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, sparking controversy. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s sovereignty claim over the South China Sea based on the “nine-dash line” had no legal basis. China, however, insists on not recognizing this ruling.