MANILA – China has defended the recent “dangerous actions” of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) over the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a statement that the August 8 incident was consistent with international laws, claiming that the Philippine Air Force (PAF) intruded into its supposed territory.
“On August 7 and 8, Philippine military aircraft twice intruded into the adjacent airspace of Huangyan Dao, which gravely infringed upon China’s sovereignty and violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations,” said Lin.
He added: “The Chinese military took necessary and lawful measures in response, and their maneuvers at the scene were professional and consistent with Chinese laws and international law.”
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Saturday said that two PLAAF executed dangerous maneuvers and dropped flares in the path of an NC-212i PAF propeller aircraft conducting a routine maritime patrol over Scarborough Shoal around 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 8.
Even if no PAF personnel were harmed in the incident, the AFP stressed that it “endangered the lives of our personnel undertaking maritime security operations recently within Philippine maritime zones.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has earlier denounced the actions of the PLAAF after the incident saying it was “unjustified, illegal and reckless.”
Scarborough Shoal is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China’s claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had “no legal basis”. China refuses to recognize the decision./PN
