(Manila) The Philippines on Saturday accused China of twice firing decoys at one of its patrol planes over disputed islets in the South China Sea, the latest episode in an increasingly bitter territorial dispute.
A Chinese fighter jet fired flares “repeatedly at dangerously close range” at a Philippine civilian patrol aircraft near Scarborough Reef on August 19, about 350 km west of Manila, the Philippine government said in a statement.
The same aircraft was targeted three days later by decoys fired from China-controlled Subi Reef while the patrol vessel was “monitoring and intercepting poachers encroaching on the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and territorial waters,” he added.
Decoys are rockets usually launched from the ground, a ship or an aircraft, to divert missiles guided by an infrared system or to illuminate an area.
On Friday, Beijing announced that it had taken “countermeasures” against Philippine military aircraft accused of entering its airspace over the South China Sea.
“The Chinese side has taken necessary countermeasures in accordance with law to protect its sovereignty and security,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
China will continue to “firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, and firmly oppose any actions that infringe on them,” he added.
Beijing claims much of the South China Sea’s islands and reefs, including waters and islands near the coasts of several neighboring countries, and has ignored an international court’s 2016 ruling that the claim lacks legal basis.
“Dangerous maneuvers”
On Saturday, the Philippine government urged Beijing to “immediately cease all its provocative and dangerous actions that threaten the safety of Philippine vessels and aircraft conducting legitimate operations in Philippine territory and the exclusive economic zone” of the Philippines.
“Such actions undermine regional peace and security and erode the image of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) in the international community,” he added.
Tensions between Beijing and Manila have escalated in recent months, marked by a series of clashes in the South China Sea.
The Philippines had already accused China of launching decoys on August 10 in the path of a Philippine military plane patrolling over Scarborough Reef, and condemned the “dangerous maneuvers.”
On Monday, Chinese- and Philippine-flagged ships collided near the disputed Sabina Atoll, located 140 kilometers west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from the nearest Chinese landmass, Hainan Island.
Manila said it was Beijing’s first hostile action in the area, where both sides have stationed coast guard vessels for months and where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.