Philippines says China harassed patrols in disputed sea

The Philippines accused China's military and coast guard on Sunday of harassing Filipino government aircraft and boats in two areas of the disputed South China Sea.

The Philippine armed forces said a Chinese J-16 fighter interfered on Saturday with a Filipino Cessna 208 turboprop conducting a routine military patrol near Scarborough Shoal. It said the fighter repeatedly approached and manoeuvred close to the Philippine aircraft, including ahead of it, around it and within its wake.

The Filipino aircraft completed its mission safely. The Philippine military called the incident part of a recurring pattern of unsafe and coercive behaviour against Philippine government vessels and aircraft carrying out lawful operations. There was no immediate Chinese government reaction to the air incident.

The Philippine government said a second confrontation took place on Sunday in the Spratly Islands. The Philippine coast guard said it launched small boats to approach a fishing vessel it accused of using dynamite between Philippine-occupied Thitu Island and China-held Subi Reef.

The coast guard said two China Coast Guard ships arrived with a Chinese navy helicopter that circled above the Filipino team four times. It said one Chinese ship shadowed and blocked the Philippine boats and came within 10 yards, or 9.1 metres, of one of them.

The Filipino team stopped the pursuit for safety reasons and returned to Thitu. The coast guard said the China Coast Guard had no law enforcement authority in the territorial sea of Pag-asa, the Philippine name for Thitu Island, and said its actions made it easier for a suspected violator to escape.

The incidents came about two weeks after a China Coast Guard ship rammed a Filipino government fisheries bureau boat in another area of the Spratlys. Beijing later blamed the Philippine vessel, saying it bore full responsibility.