China said Friday it had expelled Philippine aircraft from a contested part of the South China Sea.

Newsweek has reached out to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs by email with a request for comment.

Why It Matters

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said the planes were intercepted over the Spratly Islands, an archipelago claimed entirely by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan, and partially by Malaysia and Brunei. China dredged an estimated 3,000 acres across seven artificial islands between 2013 and 2015 and is believed to have fully militarized at least three.

China’s growing presence within the Philippines’ maritime zone has fueled tensions in the long-running territorial dispute with Manila, a U.S. treaty ally.

The U.S. Army deployed a Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system, also known as Typhon, in the Philippines last April for war games, but both countries decided to keep it there indefinitely, which China denounced as a “highly dangerous move.”

In January, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. demanded China stop its aggression in the South China Sea in exchange for the removal of Typhon.

What To Know

PLA Southern Theater Command spokesperson Tian Junli stated that three Philippine turboprop planes—two Cessna 208s and a Nomad N-22, “illegally entered the airspace near China’s Nansha Islands,” using Beijing’s term for the Spratlys.

The command “closely monitored the situation, issued warnings, and drove them away,” Tian added. It is unclear exactly where in the Spratly Islands the encounter took place.

He also addressed Tuesdays’ controversial incident involving a Chinese military helicopter and Philippine fisheries bureau plane over 300 miles to the northeast at Scarborough Shoal.

Manila released video footage showing a PLA helicopter intercepting a civilian plane at dangerously close range, claiming it came within 3 meters (10 feet) and condemning the “reckless action” for endangering those onboard.

Tian pushed back against this account, asserting that it was the Philippine plane that had “repeatedly altered its altitude without authorization” and “deliberately flown dangerously near” to the helicopter’s altitude.

“The Philippines has not only engaged in provocations but also falsely accused China of acting dangerously. This reversal of truth and fabrication of narratives is an attempt to justify its illegal claims,” Tian said, warning Manila that “such clumsy tricks are futile.”

China seized effective control over Scarborough Shoal—known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinlac and in China as Huangyan Island—after a tense 2012 standoff. The feature lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which extends 230 miles from its coast.

In 2016, an arbitral court at The Hague largely sided with the Philippines and dismissed China’s sweeping South China Sea claims, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Beijing refused to take part in the proceedings and maintains the arbitral decision is invalid.

What People Are Saying

MaryKay Carlson, U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: “We condemn the dangerous maneuvers by a People’s Liberation Army Navy helicopter that endangered pilots and passengers on a Philippine air mission. We call on China to refrain from coercive actions and settle its disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.”

Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Philippine defense secretary, said in a recent interview with The Straits Times: “What China is doing is trying to bully everyone into acquiescing to its version of international law, which is an improper use of force, actually, under the United Nations Charter […] China’s refusal to combat in the legal arena is the best proof that it knows it is in the wrong and it knows it will lose.

What Happens Next?

Neither Beijing nor Manila is likely to budge on the territorial dispute anytime soon.

Reuters reported that the Philippines plans to sue China again, this time over environmental damage inside its EEZ, allegedly caused by Chinese dredging, artificial island construction, and coral and giant clam harvesting. Manila said in January it would soon decide on an international platform for the case.