The ambassadors of the United States and Japan denounced China for launching flares at Philippine aircraft operating in the Scarborough Shoal and Subi Reef last week.
(Photos courtesy of Philippine Coast Guard)
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson expressed Washington’s support for the Philippines.
“The (US) stands firmly with the (Philippines) in condemning the PRC for launching flares at (Philippine) aircraft operating legally near Scarborough and Subi Reefs Aug 19 & 22,” she wrote.
PRC stands for People’s Republic of China.
“With the (Philippines), we call on the PRC to cease provocative and dangerous actions that undermine a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific,” she added.
Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya also scored China for compromising peace and security in the region.
“Other dangerous incidents undermining safety of PH activities,” he said, while quoting the statement by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTFWPS) posted by its spokesman and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela.
“JP opposes any actions which increase tensions and endanger the lives of crews. (Japan) upholds rules-based order and peaceful settlement of disputes based on int’l law with (the Philippines),” Endo added.
In a statement on Saturday, Aug. 25, the NTFWPS confirmed that China fired flares from the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Aug. 19 and again from the Zamora (Subi) Reef on Aug. 22.
The target was the same Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Cessna 208B Grand Caravan conducting Maritime Domain Awareness Flight.
The BFAR aircraft, according to the NTFWPS, “was tasked with monitoring and intercepting poachers encroaching upon the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the territorial seas of the maritime features constituting the Kalayaan Island Group.”
Occupied by China since 1998 and is now running a fully functional military base there, the Zamora Reef is inside the territorial sea of Pagasa Island, a maritime feature beyond the Philippines’ EEZ.
Beijing’s actions came just after a confrontation at the Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, wherein a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel rammed a PCG vessel.
China’s aggressive actions in the region is based on its stand that it owns almost the entire South China Sea, up to the EEZs of its neighbors. It also continues to reject a 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling that invalidated its nine-dash-line claim.