South China Sea: Philippines slams ‘reckless’ actions of Chinese air force over Scarborough Shoal
- President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr urged Beijing to act responsibly, saying its actions could destabilise Manila’s airspace
Manila and Beijing accused each other on Saturday of disrupting their militaries’ operations around the Scarborough Shoal in the first incident since Marcos took office in 2022 in which the Philippines has complained of dangerous actions by Chinese aircraft, as opposed to navy or coastguard vessels.
The Philippine military on Saturday condemned “dangerous and provocative actions” when two Chinese aircraft dropped flares in the path of a Philippine aircraft during a routine patrol around the shoal on Thursday.
The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command countered that the Philippines had disrupted its training, accusing Manila of “illegally intruding” into Chinese airspace.
On Sunday, Marcos urged China to act responsibly both in the seas and in the skies.
“We have hardly started to calm the waters, and it is already worrying that there could be instability in our airspace,” Marcos said in a statement posted by the Presidential Communications Office on the social media platform X.