DFA chief on China’s firing of flares in West PH Sea: They took us by surprise

MANILA, Philippines — The unprecedented firing of flares by Beijing’s jets in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea took Manila by surprise.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Monday lamented that such moves occurred as both Manila and Beijing continue working to de-escalate tensions between both nations.

“I don’t know why they did it; they took us by surprise,” Manalo said in an ambush interview in Camp Aguinaldo.

“China has always said it wanted to de-escalate but every time, of course, something like this happens, it tends to raise tensions. So it’s something that certainly we have to pay close attention to,” he said.

READ: China’s dropping of flares in WPS expected as PH asserts sovereignty – Teodoro

Two People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter jets fired flares into the path of a Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) NC-212i plane and conducted what the military called “dangerous maneuvers” last Aug 8, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said over the weekend.

READ: AFP chief: China fighters ‘endangered’ PAF plane

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner on Monday said the firing of flares happened for the first time.

“That’s the first time,” Brawner confirmed when asked if the usage of flares against PAF was unprecedented. “But the [conduct of] dangerous maneuvers is not the first time.”

Brawner said the PAF will continue to patrol the airspace around Scarborough Shoal, but it is unlikely to deploy its flagship FA-50 fighter jets.

“If we use FA-50s, it’s fast and the activities below could not be observed so we use aircraft that are slower,” Brawner said.

The National Security Council said the actions of two PLA aircraft were dangerous.

“The PLAAF planes deliberately deployed flares near the PAF aircraft, risking the safety of its Filipino crew,” the NSC said in a statement on Monday.

“The PAF NC-212i aircraft never posed a threat to the PLAAF jets. By launching flares in the flight path of the PAF plane, the PLAAF fighters exhibited hazardous intent,” it added.

For its part, the PLAAF’s Southern Theater Command said it drove away the PAF’s aircraft “in a professional manner,” according to a report by Chinese publication Global Times on Sunday.

Beijing’s latest actions are in line with its assertion of sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by the arbitral award issued in July 2016.

The landmark ruling stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013, or a year after its tense standoff with Beijing over Scarborough Shoal, whose lagoon the latter now has effective control of.

Since 2012, at least two China Coast Guard vessels have been regularly deployed around the shoal’s lagoon.

READ: ‘Overkill’, PCG says of China Coast Guard deployment for ‘Atin Ito’ convoy