Manila says it is going to lodge a diplomatic protest after a Chinese language helicopter flew intentionally inside 3 metres (10 ft) of a Philippine plane.
America ambassador to Manila has condemned “harmful” manoeuvres by a Chinese language navy helicopter that threatened the protection of a Philippine authorities plane patrolling a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
In a submit on social media on Wednesday, US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson condemned the actions of the Chinese language helicopter and referred to as on Beijing “to chorus from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with worldwide regulation”.
The Philippines stated late on Tuesday that it was “deeply disturbed” by the Chinese language navy’s “unprofessional and reckless” flight actions and that it could make a diplomatic protest.
The Philippine Coast Guard reported that the Chinese language helicopter had flown inside 3 metres (10 ft) of a surveillance flight carrying a bunch of journalists.
The airplane had been flying about 213 metres (700 ft) above the water on a mission to watch Chinese language vessels across the contested Scarborough Shoal when it was intercepted by the naval helicopter.
Journalists and different invited overseas media onboard the airplane witnessed the tense 30-minute standoff because the Philippine plane pressed on with its low-altitude patrol round Scarborough, with the Chinese language navy helicopter hovering shut above it or flying to its left in cloudy climate.
The dangerous strikes prompted the Filipino pilot to warn the Chinese language pilot by radio: “You might be flying too shut; you might be very harmful and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers”.
“Hold away and distance your plane from us. You might be violating the protection normal,” the Philippine pilot stated.
WATCH: A Chinese language Navy helicopter got here as shut as 3 meters to a Philippine fisheries bureau airplane over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, making harmful maneuvers and shadowing the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Sources airplane for about 40 minutes. The Inquirer was onboard the BFAR… pic.twitter.com/VcVfs8MpTN
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) February 18, 2025
Philippine media outlet Inquirer.Web stated that throughout the flight, the pilot of the plane operated by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Sources issued not less than 19 radio challenges to the Chinese language helicopter and Chinese language ships within the disputed space.
The media outlet described a harmful recreation of “hide-and-seek within the sky” with the helicopter all of the sudden rising and manoeuvring to put itself as shut as 3 metres (9.8 ft) above the airplane – a 12-seater Cessna Caravan.
China has disputed the Philippines’s account, saying on Tuesday that Manila’s plane had “illegally intruded” into China’s airspace and accused the Philippines of “spreading false narratives”.
The Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries stated in a press release that they continue to be “dedicated to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights and maritime jurisdiction within the West Philippine Sea, regardless of the aggressive and escalatory actions of China”.
Named after a British ship that was grounded on the atoll almost three centuries in the past, the Scarborough Shoal is likely one of the most contested maritime options within the South China Sea, the place Beijing and Manila have clashed repeatedly.
China claims sovereignty over nearly your complete South China Sea, a significant waterway that places Beijing at odds with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam who all have maritime claims within the space.
A 2016 arbitration ruling invalidated China’s expansive declare however Beijing doesn’t recognise the choice.
