China’s military said it warned and drove away three Philippine aircraft that “illegally intruded” into the airspace near Spratly Islands on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from the Philippine embassy in Beijing on the Chinese military’s statement issued on Friday.
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China’s military said it drove away three Philippines aircraft “illegally” flying over the disputed Spratly Islands, marking the second aerial incident this week involving Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea.
ReplyDeleteA spokesperson for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command, Air Force Colonel Tian Junli, said the military had chased away two small Cessna 208 planes and a light N-22 aircraft on Thursday.
The Southern Theatre Command said Manila’s aircraft had acted provocatively in a bid to assert the Philippines’ “illegal claims” over the small archipelago, according to Chinese state media.
“The Philippines has disregarded the facts and repeatedly stigmatized, hyped and smeared China’s legitimate and lawful rights-protection actions,” the Southern Theatre Command added, Al Jazeera reported.