‘We call on China to refrain from coercive actions,’ U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said.
The top U.S. diplomat to the Philippines criticized China on Feb. 19, a day after a Chinese navy helicopter flew very close to a Philippine patrol plane carrying Coast Guard personnel and journalists.
“We condemn the dangerous maneuvers by a PLA Navy helicopter that endangered pilots and passengers on a Philippine air mission,” U.S. Ambassador MaryKay Carlson
wrote on social media platform X, using the abbreviation of the name of the Chinese regime’s military, the People’s Liberation Army.
“We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law,” Carlson wrote, before adding the hashtag #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.
The aerial encounter
occurred around Scarborough Shoal, one of the disputed areas in the South China Sea that has long been a
hotspot of tension between Manila and Beijing. The Chinese helicopter attempted to force the Philippine patrol plane out of the airspace that China claims over the atoll.
According to Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Chinese helicopter
came within 10 feet of the port side and above the Philippine aircraft, which was carrying out a “maritime domain awareness flight” conducted by Manila’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
One of the journalists on board the Philippine plane, from The Associated Press, witnessed the tense 30-minute standoff as the Chinese helicopter hovered nearby.
“You are flying too close, you are very dangerous and endangering the lives of our crew and passengers,” the Philippine pilot told the Chinese navy helicopter by radio at one point.
“Keep away and distance your aircraft from us; you are violating the safety standard set by FAA and ICAO.”
The Filipino pilot was referring to the standard distance between planes as mandated by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The Philippine National Maritime Council issued a
statement on Feb. 18 calling the Chinese helicopter’s actions “unprofessional and reckless.”
“This blatantly hazardous action endangered the safety of the pilots and passengers onboard. It demonstrated a lack of regard for internationally accepted norms on good airmanship and flight safety,” the council said.
“The Philippines is committed to the rule of law and will always uphold international law. We urge China to respect international law, engage in responsible state behavior, pursue peaceful settlement of disputes, and refrain from actions that undermine regional peace and stability.”
Col. Ma Consuelo Castillo, spokesperson for the Philippine Air Force,
told the Philippine News Agency on Feb. 19 that the Chinese maneuvers were “extremely dangerous.”
“As a helicopter pilot myself, and as I saw from the video, I can say that the helicopter went dangerously near, risking the lives of those onboard both aircraft,” Castillo said, according to the outlet.
Manila’s Senate deputy minority leader, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, appealed to international allies for assistance in the face of the Chinese regime’s latest aggression.
“I call on our partners in the international community, especially our neighbors in the Indo-Pacific, to join the Philippines in pushing back. Our region cannot achieve genuine peace if China continues [its] aggression,” Hontiveros wrote
in a Facebook post on Feb. 19.The incident follows recent multilateral aerial and maritime activities between the Philippines and its allies.
On Feb. 4, three fighter jets from the Philippine Air Force and two B-1 bombers from the U.S. Pacific Air Forces
staged a joint patrol and training over Scarborough Shoal.
A day later, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and the United States
held another round of multilateral maritime cooperation activity at Manila’s exclusive economic zone, according to the Philippine News Agency. The first such activity was
held in April 2024.
Canada
joined the Philippines and the United States for similar maritime activity on Feb. 12, according to the Philippine News Agency.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
