Manila says Chinese forces on Beijing-occupied Subi Reef fired flares toward a patrol plane conducting a "lawful overflight."

The Eurofighter Typhoon has been developed collaboratively between European airline manufacturer Airbus and producer BAE Systems.

Manila rushed two patrol boats to protect fishermen in the South China Sea after a water cannon attack from Chinese cutters that left three injured in one of the most severe incidents at Sabina Shoal this year.

China said on Friday it had driven away a Philippine aircraft and multiple vessels near disputed atolls in South China Sea, in the latest in a series of confrontations in the strategic waterway in recent years.