PH says China fired flares at its patrol plane in disputed sea

MANILA, Philippines — Chinese forces fired three flares from an island toward a Philippine plane conducting a routine patrol on Saturday in the disputed South China Sea, but the incident caused no problems and the aircraft continued its surveillance mission, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

It was not immediately clear how close the flares, which Filipino officials said were fired from the Chinese-occupied Subi Reef, came to the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft of the Philippine Fisheries Bureau.

Chinese officials did not immediately comment on the incident. Beijing claims virtually the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route, and has vowed to staunchly defend its sovereignty. Chinese forces have fired flares from occupied islands and from aircraft as warnings for foreign planes to leave what China calls its airspace in the disputed waters.

“The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft recorded video footage of three flares fired from the reef towards the aircraft during its lawful overflight,” said the Philippine Coast Guard, which conducted Saturday’s surveillance flight with the fisheries agency.

“These flights aim to monitor the marine environment, assess the status of fisheries resources, and ensure the safety and welfare of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea,” the Coast Guard added, using the Philippine name for the stretch of the South China Sea that Manila claims.

The Philippine patrol plane spotted a Chinese hospital ship, two Chinese Coast Guard ships, and 29 suspected militia vessels anchored in the waters off Subi, the Coast Guard said.

Subi is one of seven disputed and mostly submerged reefs that China turned more than a decade ago into island bases in the Spratlys, the most hotly contested region of the South China Sea. The artificial islands are protected by a missile system, and three of them have military-grade runways, according to U.S. and Philippine security officials.

Aside from Subi, the Philippine patrol plane flew near six other disputed islands, reefs, and atolls, including Sabina, an uninhabited disputed shoal, where it monitored a Chinese navy ship. “This vessel repeatedly issued radio challenges against the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources aircraft while it was flying well within Philippine sovereign rights,” the Coast Guard said.

“All safe and mission accomplished,” Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard said of Saturday’s surveillance flight.

The United States has no territorial claims in the sea passage but has patrolled the waters for decades and repeatedly warned it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

READ: China raises ‘stern protest’ with Australia after mid-air incident

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-standing disputes over the resource-rich waters. /jpv