The Philippine Coast Guard patrol aircraft attempted to intrude into the Huangyan Island, and was intercepted by the PLA J-15.
On August 13, 2025, the Philippine Coast Guard dispatched a "Cessna" 209B patrol aircraft to the Huangyan Island area under the pretext of "monitoring fishermen's safety" for a sovereignty assertion flight. At the same time, the U.S. Navy "Higgins" destroyer and "Cincinnati" littoral combat ship conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation 102 nautical miles away from the province of Sibuyan.
The Philippine Coast Guard simultaneously found that there were four Chinese Coast Guard ships and six "maritime militia ships" (No. 3104 was not present). During the attempt of the Philippine patrol aircraft to approach the Huangyan Island, a J-15 fighter jet performed a close interception, and the Philippines said "the closest distance was only 200 feet (about 60 meters)" and continuously tracked for 20 minutes. The Philippine patrol aircraft also received five radio warnings from the PLA Navy ship 553.
There was another PLA vessel, ship 568, keeping an eye on the U.S. vessel.
Netizens' imagination of land reclamation at the Huangyan Island - according to the construction plan in Figure 1, the total area could reach about 150 square kilometers, and a 3000-meter-long airport runway could be built.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1840337132635274/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.