Chinese Warships & Spy Planes on “High-Alert” in Response to US-Philippine Patrols in South China Sea

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

The People’s Liberation Army – Navy has spy planes and warships on “high-alert” in the South China Sea in response to joint US-Philippines patrols in the area, according to a Chinese-government-backed newspaper.

“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was at the scene and on high alert when the US and Philippines launched a joint patrol in the South China Sea,” the Chinese Global Times reports.

The paper says that a PLA Navy Type 054A Frigate and Y-9 surveillance plane “kept watch” on the US-Philippines patrol.

While the PLA has escalated language previously, the use of the term “high alert” does seem to break new ground in the realm of growing tensions between the PRC and the Philippines, particularly following the recent incident where a PLA Navy warship collided with a Philippine vessel.

It is not clear how close the PLA Navy warships were in relation to the US-Philippine patrol in the area, yet the growing tensions highlight the continued risks associated with the South China sea, a longstanding “flashpoint” and potential areas of confrontation. Territorial claims and provocative maneuvers on the part of the PLA have been happening in the South China Sea for many years, yet they have fallen slightly beneath the radar due to other global events.

A published US Navy essay refers to its joint patrols with the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a “Maritime Cooperative Activity” designed to show solidarity and “advance combined capabilities in the maritime domain.”

US Navy Comments on Joint US-Philippine patrols