A Chinese military helicopter flew within 10 feet of a Philippine patrol plane over the South China Sea on Tuesday, marking the second incident of potentially catastrophic behavior by the People’s Liberation Army against foreign aircraft in a week.
The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was conducting a patrol near Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rock about 140 miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. The Chinese helicopter entered the area, prompting warnings from the Philippine plane to “stop flying too close, you are very dangerous and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers.”
US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson condemned China’s actions as “dangerous” and called for Beijing to refrain from coercive actions and settle differences peacefully in accordance with international law.
The PLA’s Southern Theater Command claimed that the Chinese helicopter “expelled” the Philippine plane from “China’s territorial airspace.” However, Scarborough Shoal is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and China has been effectively controlling it since 2012.
This incident follows another last week over the South China Sea between an Australian military P-8 reconnaissance jet and PLA fighter planes. The Chinese jets fired flares within 100 feet of the aircraft, posing a significant threat to its engines.
Analysts say that if ingested into the P-8’s jet engines, the flares could have caused catastrophic damage. US officials have repeatedly warned about China’s increasing assertiveness in enforcing its disputed claims in the South China Sea.
China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3-million-square-mile South China Sea and many features within it, including Scarborough Shoal. However, several countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan, also hold competing claims.
The recent incidents are raising concerns about Beijing’s intentions in enforcing its claims while distracting from other theaters, such as the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/18/asia/philippines-china-helicopter-australia-intl-hnk-ml/index.html