Chinese fighter jets intercepted a Philippine patrol aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc, AFP says

Chinese fighter jets flew into a Philippine patrol flight over Bajo de Masinloc and locked their gunsights on the aircraft, in what the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) describes as a deliberate attempt to bully Manila into backing down. The AFP says it will not.

What the AFP confirms

Retired rear admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the AFP’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told reporters on Tuesday that a Chinese J-10 trainer aircraft intercepted a Philippine maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Sept. 2.

In one instance, Trinidad said, the crosshairs of the Chinese fighter had the Philippine aircraft in its sights, footage that was later circulated in the South China Morning Post and Global Times.

What the incident shows

The South China Morning Post reported that at least three JL-10 trainer jets armed with PL-5 air-to-air missiles were involved in the Sept. 2 encounter over the shoal. Video the People’s Liberation Army released showed the Chinese jets locking onto three Philippine aircraft, identified as a BN-2A Islander utility plane, a C-208 single-engine turboprop and a PA-31T twin-engine turboprop.

Trinidad called the moves “coercive and aggressive actions designed to show that they have control over the situation over the area,” adding that China is trying to weaken Philippine resolve and demonstrate it holds the escalation advantage.

Philippine response: ‘our resolve has never been stronger’

Rather than back down, Trinidad said the Philippines will keep patrolling and asserting its sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. “They have not even succeeded in preventing us from performing our patrols,” he said, and Manila will keep working with treaty ally the United States plus like-minded partners including Japan and Australia.

The AFP confirmation lands days after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro clashed with a Chinese delegate at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, reading out a note handed to him mid-panel and telling Beijing to “show some decency.”

Why it matters

• Escalation dynamics: The crosshair-lock footage aired in Chinese state-aligned media is itself part of the message, framing Beijing as holding the escalation advantage.
• Manila’s line: The AFP frames every interception as proof the Philippines will not be intimidated out of its mandate, and highlights allied backing from the US, Japan and Australia.
• Repeated pattern: This is not the first such encounter; Philippine patrol and surveillance flights over the shoal have drawn Chinese intercepts before, and the AFP says these will not stop patrols.

Key facts at a glance

Philippine maritime patrols over Bajo de Masinloc are routine MDA flights, and the AFP says it will keep running them despite the interceptions. Separately, Philippine science diplomacy across the Sulu and Sulawesi seas has also advanced, underscoring the stakes Manila attaches to its maritime domain.