On April 16, a Philippine C-208 aircraft took off from Puerto Princesa and intruded into China's Nansha Islands.

PLA tracked the aircraft the entire way. They issued radio warnings and fired signal flares to drive it off.

This is the same old playbook, stage a provocation, wait for China to respond, then package the whole thing as "China bullying the Philippines".

In the South China Sea, peace will not be protected by staged incidents. China will safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights — every time.