MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government said Tuesday it has filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing after Chinese jets flew dangerously close and fired a volley of flares in the path of a Philippine air force patrol plane over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
The Chinese air force jets’ hostile actions against the Philippine military’s NC-212i light transport plane Thursday over the Scarborough Shoal was the first such aerial encounter since high-seas hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the busy seaway started to flare last year.
Philippine military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. did not report any injuries or damage but condemned the Chinese actions, which he said could have had tragic consequences.
“If the flares came into contact with our aircraft, these could have been blown into the propeller or the intake or burned our plane,” Brawner told reporters. “It was very dangerous.”
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said without elaborating that a diplomatic protest has been transmitted to China.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said over the weekend that the actions by the Chinese air force jets were “unjustified, illegal and reckless."
"We call on the government of the People’s Republic of China to cease all forms of provocative and hazardous acts that could undermine the safety of Filipino military and civilian personnel in the waters or in the skies, destabilize regional peace, and erode the trust and confidence of the international community in the PRC,” a Philippine government task force overseeing the South China Sea said Monday.
Despite the encounter, Philippine monitoring of its airspace would be intensified, the task force said.
The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said Saturday that a Philippine air force aircraft “illegally” entered the airspace above the shoal, which China claims, disrupting its combat training activities.
The command sent jets and ships to identify, track and drive away the Philippine aircraft, it added.
The command warned the Philippines to “stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up."
The United States, Australia and Canada have reported similar actions by Chinese air force aircraft in the past in the South China Sea, where those nations have deployed forces to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.
China has bristled at military deployments by the U.S. and its allies in the disputed region, calling it a danger to regional security.
In 2013, China announced a new Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea that covers a chain of disputed islands also claimed by Japan. Beijing said then that all aircraft entering the zone must notify Chinese authorities and they would be subject to emergency military measures if they did not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing. However, Washington and its allies said the move was invalid and refused to recognize it.
Chinese officials had warned that Beijing could establish a similar air defense zone over the South China Sea if its sovereignty over the sea passage, a key global trade and security route, was threatened.
Jay Batongbacal, a law professor and director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, said the air defense zone is not an exercise of territorial rights over the area it covers.
“What is happening is that they are flexing their capabilities to intimidate the Philippines, to give the impression to non-Chinese audiences and countries that they have control of the air in the South China Sea,” Batongbacal said.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage,but hostilities have particularly flared between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another hotly disputed atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal, since last year.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
FILE - In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese service boat scours the seabed as they search for giant clams in the Scarborough Shoal, at the disputed South China Sea, on April 22, 2019. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Memphis police officers charged in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols stood by his body and laughed after they punched, kicked and hit him with a baton in an attack that a prosecutor says was punishment because he tried to run away.
The former officers are standing trial accused of federal civil rights violations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers said during opening statements Wednesday that the officers were punishing Nichols for fleeing a traffic stop and she used the term “run tax” — police slang for disciplining a subject who tries to escape. She said the force they used did not match Nichols’ actions, and she warned jurors they would see videos of the beating. Footage of the attack was publicly released just weeks after his death.
Rogers also said officers were just standing around in the “crucial” minutes when Nichols' heart stopped.
“You won’t see Tyre Nichols pose a threat to these officers at any time,” Rogers said.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges that they deprived the 29-year-old Nichols of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering. Two others, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., have already pleaded guilty to the federal charges. Rogers said Wednesday that Martin and Mills will testify.
Bean's lawyer, John Keith Perry, began crafting a defense in front of jurors as opening statements continued Wednesday.
Perry said Nichols drove 2 miles (3 kilometers) after the officers put their blue lights on to stop him and was not complying with orders to give them his hands, and that he was “fighting like hell” with police. Perry said video from a sky cop camera would show Nichols acting suspiciously and evidence would show the officers are not guilty.
“The narrative you hear here will take you five minutes to deliberate on,” Perry said.
Nichols, who was Black, died in a hospital on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was kicked, punched and hit with a police baton following a traffic stop. Police video released that month showed the five officers, who also are Black, beating Nichols as he yelled for his mother about a block from his home. Video also showed the officers milling about and talking with each other as Nichols sat on the ground, struggling with his injuries.
The officers said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief has said there is no evidence to substantiate that claim.
An autopsy report showed Nichols died from blows to the head and that the manner of death was homicide. The report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other areas.
Nichols worked for FedEx, and he enjoyed skateboarding and photography.
“Tyre Nichols’ family have been praying for justice and accountability from the very beginning of this tragedy," Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the civil rights attorneys representing Nichols' family, said before proceedings began Wednesday. "Now that the jury has been selected, they pray that the jury will get all of the evidence and render justice for Tyre.”
All five officers belonged to a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit. They were all fired for violating Memphis Police Department policies after Nichols’ death and the unit was disbanded.
They were also charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty, although Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.
On Monday, the judge read a list of potential witnesses that included two other former officers. Preston Hemphill fired his stun gun at the traffic stop scene but didn’t follow Nichols to where other officers pummeled him. Hemphill was fired. Dewayne Smith was the supervising lieutenant who arrived on scene after the beating. He retired instead of being fired.
Associated Press reporter Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
Former Memphis police officer Tadarrius Bean arrives at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Memphis police officer Justin Smith arrives at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Memphis police officer Tadarrius Bean, right, arrives at the federal courthouse with attorney John Keith Perry, right, for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Memphis police officer Demetrius Haley arrives at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
RowVaughn Wells, left, and Rodney Wells, parents of Tyre Nichols, arrive at the federal courthouse before the start of jury selection of the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Memphis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
FILE - The image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the City of Memphis, shows Tyre Nichols during a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (City of Memphis via AP, File)
FILE - This combo of images provided by the Memphis, Tenn., Police Department shows, top row from left, officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and bottom row from left, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith. (Memphis Police Department via AP, File)
Former Memphis police officer Justin Smith, left, and attorney Martin Zummach, right, arrive at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Memphis police officer Demetrius Haley arrives at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Memphis police officer Tadarrius Bean arrives at the federal courthouse for the second day of jury selection for the trial in the Tyre Nichols case Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Opening statements are set in the trial of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death
Opening statements are set in the trial of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death
FILE - The screen at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans honors Tyre Nichols before an NBA basketball game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Washington Wizards, Jan. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)
