MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippine military said on Saturday it strongly condemns “dangerous and provocative actions” by China’s air force at a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
Two People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft executed a dangerous manoeuvre and dropped flares in the path of a Philippine air force aircraft conducting a routine maritime patrol over the Scarborough shoal on Thursday morning, the military said in a statement.
It “endangered the lives of our personnel undertaking maritime security operations recently within Philippine maritime zones”, said Philippines armed forces chief Romeo Brawner, adding that the Chinese aircraft interfered with lawful flight operations and violated international law on aviation safety.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beijing 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.
China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that Beijing’s expansive claims had no basis under international law.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by William Mallard)
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