A CHINESE fighter jet intercepted a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) aircraft conducting patrol at the contested Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, in the West Philippine yesterday, two days after a similar harassment incident in the area that led to a collision between two Chinese vessels.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said the PCG Caravan aircraft was deployed to conduct a maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight to check on the Chinese vessel that was damaged during last Monday’s incident.
“While they were doing an MDA flight, they experienced having been intercepted by a Chinese fighter jet, a J-15 fighter jet,” he said, referring to PCG personnel on board the PCG aircraft.
Tarriela said the fighter jet came as close as 500 meters to the PCG aircraft.
“For 20 minutes, it conducted dangerous maneuvers within such distance and even above the aircraft of the Coast Guard aircraft at an approximate height of 200 feet above the Coast Guard aircraft,” he said.
The PCG aircraft later returned to Manila safely, after completing its mission.
“For this year, this is the first time that we saw a jet fighter intercepting a routine MDA flight conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard,” said Tarriela.
It is not the first time a Chinese fighter jet harassed a Philippine government aircraft. In August last year, a Chinese fighter jet fired flares while an NC-212i plane of the Philippine Air Force was conducting patrol at the vicinity of the shoal. Philippine military officials denounced China for endangering the lives of personnel aboard the harassed aircraft.
Tarriela described China’s behavior yesterday as a “significant safety concern.”
“The (Chinese) military aircraft unsafely tracked the PCG Caravan aircraft for over 20 minutes, maintaining a lateral distance of only 500 feet and passing directly overhead at just 200 feet,” said Tarriela.
Tarriela said the PCG aircraft, during its MDA flight, observed that the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel with bow number 3104, which was damaged during last Monday’s incident, was no longer in the area.
“The reason we conducted an MDA flight is actually to confirm whether it’s no longer there or it was already brought somewhere else,” Tarriela said of CCG-3401. He could not immediately say the whereabouts of the significantly-damaged Chinese ship.
Tarriela said the People’s Liberation Army-Navy ship (bow number 164) that figured in the mishap was also no longer present in the area.
CCG-3401 was hit by the Chinese Navy ship after they were outmaneuvered by PCG vessel BRP Suluan which they were chasing and harassing some 10.5 nautical miles from the shoal.
Several people were seen at the forecastle or front portion of CCG-3401 prior to the collision, indicating that they may have hurt or have gone overboard due to the impact.
Asked if the harassment of the PCG aircraft was the result of last Monday’s incident, Tarriela said, “I don’t want to speculate whether this is a response of what happened last Monday.”
He then noted Chinese aircraft have harassed MDA flights of the PCG in the past. “This time, it’s a jet fighter. I don’t think that it is because of what happened last Monday,” he said.
Tarriela said the PCG aircraft, while performing its mission yesterday, was subjected to five radio challenges by a PLA-Navy ship (bow number 553).
A second PLA-Navy ship (bow number 568) was also monitored at the vicinity of the shoal.
He said PLA-Navy ship 568 was seen tailing two US Navy warships — USS Higgins and USS Cincinnati — near Scarborough Shoal.
On China’s claim that its ships drove away the US warships, Tarriela said, “I don’t think that would be accurate because based on the statement of the US Navy, they were just carrying out FONOPs (freedom of navigation operations).”
Tarriela said it was “normal” for the US to conduct FONOPs across the globe, not only in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea.
Tarriela said the PCG aircraft also sighted four CCG vessels (bow numbers 5303, 4202, 3502, and 530) and six Chinese maritime militia vessels at the vicinity of the shoal during its MDA flight.
