US, Philippine fighter jets patrol disputed South China Sea shoal

MANILA, Philippines — U.S. and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said.

The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since U.S. President Donald Trump took office again.

Trump’s “America First” foreign policy thrust has sparked concerns among Washington’s allies in Asia about the scale and depth of U.S. commitment to the region in his new term. His predecessor, former President Joe Biden, had moved to strengthen an arc of security alliances in the region to counter China’s increasingly assertive actions.

Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practicing how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine Air Force spokesperson Maria Consuelo Castillo said in a news briefing.

It was not immediately known if the joint patrol encountered any challenge from Chinese forces guarding the Scarborough Shoal.

"The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the two air forces,” the Philippine Air Force said.

In August last year, two Chinese air force aircraft flew close then fired flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said.

All those aboard the Philippine Air Force NC-212i turboprop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said.

The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said then that a Philippine air force aircraft “illegally” entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to “stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up."

The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident “posed a threat to Philippine air force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation."

China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming faceoffs in the shoal, which is called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China.

"We are always prepared for any contingency, it’s part of the training,” Castillo said when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft.

“It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine Air Force will not be deterred to perform its mandate,” Castillo said.

The U.S. military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

China has bristled at U.S. military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia , Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

菲律宾马尼拉——菲律宾官员称，周二，美国和菲律宾的战斗机在南海一处有争议的浅滩上进行了联合巡逻和训练。去年，中国战斗机曾在这片浅滩发射照明弹，试图驱赶一架菲律宾飞机。

在菲律宾西北部备受争议的黄岩岛附近海域，美中两国进行了联合巡逻和空中拦截演习，这是自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普再次上任以来，这两个长期条约盟友首次进行此类演习。

特朗普“美国优先”的外交政策引发了华盛顿在亚洲盟友的担忧，他们质疑美国在其新任期内对该地区的承诺规模和深度。他的前任，前总统乔·拜登，曾致力于加强该地区一系列安全联盟，以应对中国日益强硬的姿态。

菲律宾空军发言人玛丽亚·康苏埃洛·卡斯蒂略在新闻发布会上表示，两架美国空军B-1轰炸机和三架菲律宾空军FA-50战斗机参加了短暂的巡逻和训练，其中包括练习如何拦截敌机。

目前尚不清楚联合巡逻队是否在黄岩岛附近遭遇了中国军队的阻拦。

菲律宾空军表示：“此次演习的重点是加强两国空军之间的作战协调、提高空中领域感知能力和强化敏捷作战运用能力。”

军方官员表示，去年8月，两架中国空军飞机在黄岩岛附近低空飞行，随后向正在该海域进行例行巡逻的菲律宾空军飞机发射照明弹，菲律宾政府对此予以强烈谴责和抗议。

菲律宾军方表示，菲律宾空军NC-212i涡轮螺旋桨运输机上的所有人员均安然无恙。

中国人民解放军南部战区当时表示，一架菲律宾空军飞机“非法”进入浅滩上空空域，干扰了中国军队的训练活动。中方警告菲律宾“停止侵犯、挑衅、歪曲和夸大其词的行为”。

菲律宾军方首脑罗密欧·布劳纳将军当时表示，该事件“对菲律宾空军飞机及其机组人员构成威胁，干扰了菲律宾主权和管辖范围内的空域内的合法飞行作业，并违反了管理航空安全的国际法律和法规。”

中国和菲律宾在该浅滩（菲律宾称之为马辛洛克礁，中国称之为黄岩岛）的对峙日益加剧，令人担忧。

当被问及盟军是否已做好准备应对中国飞机的任何挑战时，卡斯蒂略表示：“我们始终为任何突发情况做好准备，这是训练的一部分。”

卡斯蒂略说：“这种情况以前就发生过，而且正如我所说，无论任何外国势力采取何种胁迫、侵略行动，菲律宾空军都不会被吓倒，一定会履行其职责。”

美国军方报告称，过去曾在争议水域遭遇中国空军飞机的此类危险机动，美国已在争议水域部署战斗机和海军舰艇，以促进航行和飞越自由。

中国对美国在争议地区的军事部署表示不满，称这些部署危及地区安全。

除了中国和菲律宾之外，文莱、马来西亚、越南和台湾在繁忙的海上航道（一条重要的全球贸易和安全通道）上也存在领土主张重叠的情况。但在过去两年里，中国和菲律宾海警和海军在黄岩岛和另一个激烈争夺的环礁——仁爱礁——之间的敌对行动尤为频繁。

华盛顿一再警告说，如果菲律宾军队、舰船​​和飞机遭到武装攻击，包括在南海，美国有义务保卫菲律宾——其在亚洲最古老的条约盟友。