PH files diplomatic protest vs China over Scarborough incident

The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest against China after Beijing’s air force performed dangerous actions in Scarborough Shoal.

That's according to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Teresita Daza in a message to GMA News Online on Tuesday. 

Daza said that the diplomatic protest was lodged on Monday but she did not provide further details. 

In a previous statement, the DFA spokesperson said that the Philippines "remains committed to diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes" and that the country "adopts a de-escalatory approach to tensions in the WPS." 

Provocative actions

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that on August 8, two People's Liberation Army Air Force aircraft performed "dangerous and provocative actions" against a Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft over the Scarborough Shoal.

The Chinese aircraft executed a dangerous maneuver and dropped flares in the path of a NC-212i PAF propeller aircraft conducting a routine maritime patrol over the area.

PLA’s Southern Theater Command said the Philippine aircraft, "despite repeated warnings from China, insisted on illegally intruding into the airspace of Huangyan Island," disrupting training activities.

According to the command, China’s naval and air forces carried out identification, tracking, warning, and expulsion in accordance with the law.

"The on-site operation was professional, abided by norms, legitimate, and legal," the PLA said, urging the Philippines to stop what it called infringement and provocation.

Prior to this incident, the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said on Wednesday it had "organized a joint combat patrol in the sea and air space" near the Scarborough Shoal.

The maneuvers tested "the reconnaissance and early warning, rapid mobility, and joint strike capabilities of theater troops," Beijing said.

'Dangerous, reckless'

The dangerous actions of China air force took the Philippines by surprise considering their recent talks about deescalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), 

“Well, I don't know why they did it, yun ang masasabi ko. They took us by surprise,” DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo said when asked if the incident showed that the talks with China were in bad faith.

Manalo said that the Philippines should pay close attention to these actions by China.

“China has always said it wanted to deescalate but everytime of course may nangyayari na ganito (something happened) certainly it tends to raise tensions so it's something that certainly we have to pay close attention to but yun ang sinasabi nila (but that they were saying),” he said.

“We have to see if they can really help in maintaining a more stable relationship para magdeescalate nang kaunti ang tensions pero everytime something like [this] happens, siyempre you begin to think,” he added.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. later condemned the act, describing it as “unjustified, illegal and reckless.”

“The President strongly condemns the air incident in Bajo de Masinloc earlier this week, and stands by our brave men and women of the AFP, especially the Philippine Air Force,” the Presidential Communications Office said.

“The actions of the People’s Liberation Army - Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft were unjustified, illegal and reckless, especially as the PAF aircraft was undertaking a routine maritime security operation in Philippine sovereign airspace,” it added.

The Philippine Navy on Tuesday also reported an increased number of Chinese ships in the WPS in the past days.

From August 6 to 12, the Philippine Navy recorded nine People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships, 13 China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, and two research vessels in the WPS. 

These are higher compared to the three PLAN ships, 12 CCG vessels, and one research ship monitored in the previous week.

Scarborough Shoal is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Scarborough Shoal is also referred to by the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal.

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.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis." China has not recognized the decision. —with reports from Michaela del Callar/ VAL, GMA Integrated News