MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippine army stated on Saturday it strongly condemns “harmful and provocative actions” by China’s air pressure at a contested shoal within the South China Sea.
Two Individuals’s Liberation Military Air Power plane executed a harmful manoeuvre and dropped flares within the path of a Philippine air pressure plane conducting a routine maritime patrol over the Scarborough shoal on Thursday morning, the army stated in a press release.
It “endangered the lives of our personnel endeavor maritime safety operations just lately inside Philippine maritime zones”, stated Philippines armed forces chief Romeo Brawner, including that the Chinese language plane interfered with lawful flight operations and violated worldwide legislation on aviation security.
China’s embassy in Manila didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea, a conduit for greater than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, together with elements claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Everlasting Court docket of Arbitration within the Hague that Beijing’s expansive claims had no foundation beneath worldwide legislation.
