Manila says Chinese forces harassed patrol plane near Scarborough Shoal

CHINESE FORCES harassed a Philippine maritime patrol aircraft near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, Manila’s coast guard said late on Wednesday, in the latest flareup of tensions that have simmered since Sunday.

- By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio Reporter

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said a Chinese fighter jet harassed its patrol plane and endangered its “safe flight path,” while a People’s Liberation Army-Navy helicopter flew directly beneath it during a maritime domain awareness (MDA) mission that spotted a floating buoy at the northern tip of Scarborough Shoal.

“The PCG’s MDA flight was subjected to aggressive interference by forces from the People’s Republic of China,” it said in astatement.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The Wednesday encounter was the latest in a string of confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, where tensions have persisted since Sunday’s collision between a Chinese coast guard vessel and a Philippine government ship within what Manila said were its territorial waters off Thitu Island in the Spratlys.

A China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesman said Beijing took “necessary control measures” to expel ships that allegedly intruded into the disputed Sandy Cay near Thitu, the biggest Philippine-held island in the Spratly Islands.