China says Philippine plane 'intruded' airspace over disputed waters

Beijing warned Manila on Monday against "provocative acts" in the disputed South China Sea, accusing a Philippine aircraft of an airspace violation over the weekend.

Beijing claims most of the sea, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and confrontations have occurred regularly.

The Philippine armed forces said a Chinese fighter jet had interfered with a "routine military patrol" carried out by a Cessna 208 turboprop near the Scarborough Shoal on Saturday.

The Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said that the Philippine plane had "illegally intruded into the territorial airspace over China's Huangyan Dao" -- Beijing's name for the disputed shoal.

Chinese "naval and air forces... tracked and monitored the Philippine aircraft, and issued warnings to expel it in accordance with laws and regulations", military spokesman Zhai Shichen said in a statement shared on social media platform WeChat on Monday.

Senior Captain Zhai said the Philippines' actions "seriously violate China's sovereignty" and warned Manila "to stop rights violations and provocative acts immediately".

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Philippine armed forces said that a Chinese J-16 fighter had "repeatedly approached and manoeuvred in close proximity to the Philippine aircraft, including manoeuvring ahead of and around it and positioning itself within the Philippine aircraft's wake".

The Philippine government said a second confrontation occurred on Sunday in the Spratly Islands, further south in the South China Sea.

The weekend incidents came about two weeks after the Philippines said a China Coast Guard ship rammed one of its fisheries department boats in another area of the Spratlys.

Beijing subsequently blamed the actions of the Philippine vessel, which it said "bears full responsibility for the incident".