The Philippines on Monday said it would protest over a manoeuvre by two Chinese aircraft in the disputed South China Sea last week.

Manila said this had endangered a routine air patrol over the area.

According to the Philippine military, a Chinese aircraft last Thursday fired flares in the path of a Philippine air force NC-212i plane while it was conducting a patrol over Scarborough Shoal.

Scarborough Shoal is locally known as Bajo De Masinloc.

Defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters that the Philippines were preparing to file a protest for the latest manoeuvre.

“Naturally we cannot let this be. Even if it is just a diplomatic protest, we cannot do it because otherwise will acquiesce this,” said Mr Teodoro.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. strongly condemned the incident, saying that the actions of the Chinese aircraft were “unjustified, illegal and reckless.”

“We have barely started to calm the waters, and it is already worrying that there could be instability in our airspace,’’ he added.

Despite repeated warnings, the Chinese military said that the Philippine aircraft had entered the airspace over the reef without authorisation.

As a result, the naval and air forces were sent to track, warn and finally expel the aircraft from the airspace.

Chinese military added that measures were carried out professionally and in accordance with the law.

The statement further said that the Philippine side should immediately stop provocations and distortion of facts.

The Chinese troops on the ground remain on alert.

Scarborough Shoal, also known to the Chinese as Huangyan Dao or Democracy Reef, is 230 kilometres from the Philippines’ north-western coast.

Chinese ships regularly shadow and try to block Philippine vessels from reaching Bajo de Masinloc.

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, has taken increasingly aggressive actions in the area in recent years.

It has ignored a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court that it has no legal or historical basis for its expansive claims.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the area, which is believed to be rich in natural resources. 

(dpa/NAN)