“The United States stands with its ally the Philippines to condemn the unsafe and irresponsible actions by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) to interfere with a Philippine maritime air operation in the vicinity of Scarborough Reef,” said State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a written statement.
On February 18, a Chinese military helicopter came within 3 meters of a patrol plane belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. The plane was on a routine flight above the Scarborough Reef, whose surrounding waters are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone or EEZ. China, however, claims sovereignty over the waters and airspace of a vast amount of territory in the South China Sea, despite a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration tribunal rejecting its claims.
Journalists working for international media organizations were aboard the Philippine plane on February 18. The pilot warned the Chinese helicopter that it was flying too close, endangering the lives of the plane’s crew and passengers. He also said the helicopter was violating international flight safety standards.
The incident near the Scarborough Reef was described by the Chinese military as an illegal trespass into Chinese airspace by the Philippine plane. It followed a separate, unsafe, and unprofessional maneuver by the Chinese on February 11. That encounter endangered an Australian aircraft that was conducting a routine maritime patrol in the South China Sea.
“Reckless Chinese actions such as these are a threat to navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, and we will continue to support our allies and partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said State Department Spokesperson Bruce. “We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.”
Spokesperson Bruce also pointed out that the 1951 United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared in a recent interview, “We are not going to live in a world in which China gets to dominate the Indo-Pacific.” He noted that countries in the region “have no interest in being a tributary state ... in a Chinese zone of influence. We are a Pacific nation,” he said. “We intend to remain one and maintain our relationships there.”
