South China Sea: Manila says flares fired at aircraft near Subi, Mischief Reefs
The Chinese military appeared to fire flares near a Philippine aircraft operating close to the Subi and Mischief Reefs, according to the Philippines’ coastguard, as tensions continue to spread to other South China Sea hotspots. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) released video clips on Thursday of footage which it said had been filmed from the aircraft on Monday. PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela said on…
The Philippine coastguard released video footage on Thursday, claiming Chinese military forces had fired flares at a Philippine aircraft operating near Subi and Mischief Reefs in the South China Sea. The unarmed plane was carrying out a maritime domain awareness flight over the Spratly Islands on Monday when the incident reportedly occurred.
According to the PCG, the aircraft was first challenged by radio as it approached Subi Reef, followed by the discharge of multiple flares. The same actions were repeated over Mischief Reef. The footage allegedly shows flares being fired from land as the aircraft approached the artificial islands, with visible facilities such as airfields, radar installations, and harbors consistent with the structures built on Subi and Mischief reefs by China.
The PCG stated that this was a deliberate act of bullying, mirroring a similar claim made in April regarding flares fired at the aircraft over Mischief and Subi Reefs.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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