A CHINSE Navy helicopter yesterday harassed an aircraft of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) conducting maritime patrol at the contested Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said the maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight over the “territorial airspace” of Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, was conducted at around 7 a.m. yesterday by BFAR personnel, accompanied by PCG personnel and photojournalists.
China gained control of Scarborough Shoal, located some 124 nautical miles from Zambales, after standoff with Philippine government vessels in 2012. The Chinese have since been preventing Filipinos from fishing inside the shoal.
Tarriela said a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-Navy) helicopter, with tail number 68, “performed dangerous flight maneuvers towards the BFAR aircraft” at 8:39 a.m. He said the helicopter came as close as three meters to the port side or left side and above the BFAR aircraft.
Tarriela said the incident raised “significant concerns regarding the PLA-Navy’s clear violation and blatant disregard for the International Civil Aviation Organization’s international aviation regulations.”
“This reckless action posed a serious risk to the safety of the pilots and passengers during the MDA flight,” said Tarriela.
In Beijing, the Southern Theater Command of China’s military said in a statement that a Philippine plane “intruded” into China’s airspace over Scarborough Shoal.
The move by the Philippines severely “violated” China’s sovereignty, the statement said, adding that the Chinese military organized naval and air forces to track, monitor and drive away the plane.
It was not the first time a Chinese Navy helicopter figured in a harassment case against the Philippine ships. On January 24, a Chinese Navy helicopter hovered at an “unsafe altitude” above BFAR rigid-hulled inflatable boats carrying BFAR personnel out to conduct maritime scientific survey and sand sampling at Sandy Cays near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island.
On January 7, a Chinese Navy helicopter also hovered above a PCG vessel conducting patrols off Zambales.
Tarriela said the PCG and BFAR “remain committed to asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, despite the aggressive and escalatory actions of China.” – With Reuters
