© Ted Aljibe/AFP This picture taken on April 21, 2017 shows an aerial view of reefs in the disputed Spratly islands in the West Philippine Sea.

China has fired warning flares against Philippine military aircraft conducting maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea, a military official told a House committee on Tuesday.

During a meeting with the House Committee on National Defense and Security, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Major General Reuben Basiao said China had been making "significant improvements" in staking its claims in the West Philippine Sea.

China has been claiming almost the entire South China Sea including parts of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

Basiao said China had deployed 17 research vessels in Phippine waters that from January to June "to hinder Philippine operations both patrols and rotation and reprovision missions in the West Philippine Sea."

"Recently, Beijing has also issued flare warnings against Philippine aircrafts covering these areas, and from January to June 2019, there have been six flare warnings against Philippine maritime patrols have been noticed," Basiao said.

Basiao said China was seen as the "most aggressive" among the other claimants of territories in the West Philippine Sea.

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He said China's operations had even been expanding to the Philippines' eastern seaboard, particularly in east of the Philippine rise.

"Other South China Sea claimants are likewise undertaking efforts to safeguard their claimed territories," Basiao said.

In September, a Greek-owned oil tanker Green Aura manned by Filipino crewmen was "harassed" by a "Chinese naval warship" near Panatag shoal on its way to China.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has already said it would look into the matter. —NB, GMA News