Philippine president condemns Beijing’s ‘illegal and reckless’ actions in South China Sea

Ferdinand Marcos accuses the Chinese air force of harassing one of his planes patrolling over a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

New clash between China and the Philippines. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos condemned, on Sunday, August 11, the “illegal and reckless actions” of the Chinese air force, accused by Manila of harassing one of its planes patrolling over a disputed reef in the South China Sea. Chinese actions “were unjustified, illegal and reckless, especially since the plane” of the Philippine Army “was carrying out a routine maritime security operation in sovereign airspace” of the archipelago, Ferdinand Marcos said in a statement.

He is referring here to an incident between Beijing and Manila, which allegedly occurred on Thursday on Scarborough Reef and which the Philippine president “strongly condemns”judging “concerning that there may be instability in our airspace”The day before, General Romeo Brawner, chief of staff of the Philippine army, had affirmed that two Chinese planes had “performed a dangerous maneuver” And “launched flares on the trajectory” of one of their devices. These “dangerous and provocative actions” have “endangered the lives of our personnel carrying out maritime security operations”he continued.

The Chinese army responded on Saturday in a statement, saying it had done everything possible “to legally push back” the Philippine plane, after “repeated warnings”. “China has unquestionable sovereignty over Huangyan Island” – the Chinese name for Scarborough Reef – “and on the adjacent waters”the statement added. The incident came after Beijing announced a military exercise in the South China Sea, near the same Scarborough Reef, while the Philippines began two days of joint maritime and air maneuvers with the United States, Canada and Australia.

Scarborough Reef is an islet controlled by the Chinese since 2012, but claimed by the Philippines. Several incidents have occurred in recent months around islets that Beijing and Manila are fiercely contesting in the area. Many of the islands and reefs in this maritime area are claimed by China, but other countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, also have competing claims.