‘Clear, deliberate act of bullying’: China fires flares at PCG plane over Panganiban, Zamora reefs

MANILA, Philippines — China on Thursday, April 9, fired flares against a Philippine Coast Guard plane while it was flying over Panganiban and Zamora Reefs, features that Beijing has since developed into artificial militarized islands.

“This afternoon, in a clear and deliberate act of bullying, Chinese forces fired flares directly at Philippine Coast Guard Caravan aircraft while we were conducting routine Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) flights over the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG). The provocative incidents occurred specifically at Panganiban Reef and Zamora Reefs, where our PCG aircraft were operating peacefully to monitor maritime activities and ensure the safety of our waters,” Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the PCG for the West Philippine Sea, said in a statement.

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Tarriela condemned the “reckless and aggressive actions,” which he said “directly [endangered] the lives of personnel on board” what was an unarmed plane.

Panganiban (Mischief) and Zamora (Subi) reefs are low-tide elevations in the South China Sea that are within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and part of an area Manila calls the West Philippine Sea. Since they are low-tide elevations, as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award, the two reefs are part of an area where the Philippines should be enjoying the exclusive right to exploit marine resources.

But the two reefs have since been turned into artificial islands by Beijing that play host to modern military outposts. Beijing’s development of Panganiban Reef was what prompted the Philippines to purposefully ground the BRP Sierra Madre in other low-tide elevation, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. China had initially claimed the structures it was building in Panganiban was just a fisherman’s wharf.

The use of flares over Panganiban and Zamora is only the latest is a long list of aggressive actions by Beijing against Philippine vessels are aircraft in the West Philippine Sea.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea, despite the Arbitral Tribunal’s findings that the claim was baseless. The same tribunal found that the construction of artificial island was unlawful and did not change their status as low-tide elevations that cannot be claimed as territory and do not generate their own territorial sea.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Manila currently chairs, is meant to finish in 2026 the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea between the bloc and China. The code is hoped to avoid the escalation of tensions — to include the use of flares against aircraft — in the South China Sea. – Rappler.com