Two Chinese fighter jets were monitored "orbiting" a Philippine A-29 Super Tucano, which was participating in patrols alongside Australian assets in the South China Sea, Manila officials revealed on Sunday (November 26).
The incident happened while Filipino and Australian military units executed a second round of maritime and aerospace exercises over the West Philippine Sea - the South China Sea area within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner told reporters that his nation was well in its right to conduct joint patrols with its allies to promote a "rule-based international order."
Filipino defense assets also held joint patrols with their US counterparts as Pacific nations are on edge regarding China's increased assertion, Reuters reported.
Curbing Beijing's Hegemony
Since the Permanent Court of Arbitration's 2016 ruling that China's claims lack a legal basis, Manila, Canberra, and Washington have all indicated their concern regarding Beijing's fast rise to power in the Indo-Pacific, specifically because the South China Sea continued to be a busy shipping lane.
However, Chinese officials accused the Philippines of enlisting "foreign forces" to patrol the contested waters.
Aside from the Filipino Super Tucano, Chinese jets were shadowing, two Filipino ships and four other aircraft were deployed alongside the Australian frigate HMAS Toowoomba and a P8 maritime surveillance plane.
However, no radio challenges were issued, Brawner told CNN's Philippine bureau.
