China conducts combat readiness patrols around disputed shoal in South China Sea

BEIJING: China's military said on Friday (Oct 30) its naval and air forces conducted combat readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal, which has long been a flashpoint in tensions between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea.

The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, in a statement, said the patrols were a "necessary countermeasure in response to the Philippines' rights-violation and provocative acts", adding that it has strengthened such patrols this month.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing and the Philippine military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tensions between China and the Philippines resurfaced at the close of a two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations defence gathering on Thursday, with Beijing accusing an unnamed Philippine politician of obstructing its participation in the event. Manila said China had been given an opportunity at the meeting to state its position.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea via a nine-dash line on its maps that cuts into parts of the exclusive economic zones of Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia. An international arbitral tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's sweeping claims have no basis under international law, a decision Beijing rejects.

"Such patrols are aimed at further enhancing control and management over relevant waters and airspace, and serve as an effective countermeasure to cope with all sorts of rights-violation and provocative acts," the Chinese military said.

Separately, the China Coast Guard also conducted law-enforcement patrols in the waters around the shoal on Friday, calling the activities "necessary countermeasure in response to the Philippines' rights-violation and provocative acts."

Neither the Chinese military nor the China Coast Guard gave details on which Philippine actions they were referring to.