US Navy dismisses report on near skirmish with Chinese jets

The United States (US) Navy has denied a report that four of its F-18 fighter jets were challenged by the Chinese Navy while flying over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Lt. Lauren Cole, the U.S. 7th Fleet deputy public affairs officer, said in an email to the Manila Bulletin that no such incident happened in the past few days.

Former Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan III on Thursday posted on Facebook that he received information, July 1, that China has again challenged four US fighter jets over Philippine waters.

"JUST RECEIVED THIS. July 1, 2015. 4 F-18 Super Hornets from CVW 5 aboard USS George Washington CVN 73 were again challenged by the PLA Navy above the disputed island group (KIG)," said Alunan in his FB post.

"Lt. Cmdr. Marion Paulson responded that they were over Philippine territorial waters and were conducting routine patrol flights on behalf of the Republic of the Philippines," it further stated.

The PLA Navy then allegedly "threatened to scramble a squadron of JT 15."

"China's continued threats were ignored by Mitchell and ordered the Super Hornets to switch on their radar weapons systems and continued on with their mission and sortie. No PLA Navy or Airforce aircrafts came," read Alunan's post.

When asked about the alleged incident, Cole said that "the Facebook post . . . is unfounded," adding that: "There weren’t any incidents like this in the past few days."

And while Cole said that "USS George Washington is conducting routine operations in the Southern Philippine Sea," the U.S. 7th Fleet public affairs officer stressed that the aircraft carrier "isn’t operating near disputed territory."

Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief, Lt. Col. Harold M. Cabunoc also said they have not received an official report on the incident.