US calls out China for endangering passengers of Philippine aircraft
MANILA, Philippines — Washington has called on Beijing to "refrain from coercive actions" after a Chinese military helicopter flew within three meters of a Philippine patrol aircraft over Scarborough Shoal yesterday — an incident that the Philippine Coast Guard believes is one of China's most provocative yet.
"We condemn the dangerous maneuvers by a PLA Navy helicopter that endangered pilots and passengers on a Philippine air mission," US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said in an X post on Wednesday, February 19.
"We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law," the US' ambassador to the Philippines said.
Manila has announced that it would file a diplomatic protest over the mid-air encounter, in which a People's Liberation Army Navy helicopter flew as close as three meters above a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Cessna aircraft while it was patrolling in the West Philippine Sea.
Journalists and PCG personnel were onboard the Philippine plane when the incident occurred.
PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela explained at a press conference on Wednesday that the Chinese navy helicopter created a turbulent propeller wash that nearly destabilized the BFAR aircraft. He said he considers it China's "most dangerous" act yet in the fiercely contested waters.
Past incidents. The aerial confrontation is not the first time the Philippines has accused Beijing's aircraft of conducting dangerous maneuvers in the skies above the South China Sea. In August last year, the Philippines said two Chinese Air Force planes dropped flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane over Scarborough Shoal.
Larger context. The incident comes as Washington reiterates its defense commitments to Manila. Last week, newly minted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo discussed China's "destabilizing actions in the South China Sea" among other topics in their first in-person meeting during the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
During this meeting, Rubio reaffirmed the US' commitment to its alliance with the Philippines and "noted his enthusiasm for building an even more invested and enduring relationship,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, while the Philippines, among other Southeast Asian nations, have overlapping claims to parts of it.
Beijing has also persistently ignored a 2016 international tribunal ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
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