South China Sea: Manila says flares fired at aircraft near Subi, Mischief reefs

The Chinese military appeared to fire flares near a Philippine aircraft operating close to the Subi and Mischief Reefs, according to the Philippines’ coastguard, as tensions continue to spread to other South China Sea hotspots.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) released video clips on Thursday of footage which it said had been filmed from the aircraft on Monday.

PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela said on social media that the unarmed plane was on a maritime domain awareness flight over part of the Spratly Islands when Chinese forces fired multiple flares at it.

Beijing has not responded to the claim.

The footage appears to show flares being fired from land as the aircraft approaches the artificial islands. In one clip, a lighthouse visible in the background appears to match the structure China built on Subi Reef in 2016.

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Other visible facilities include airfields, aircraft hangars, radar installations, harbours and other infrastructure of the type that are known to have been built on Subi and Mischief reefs.