China conducts “combat patrols” in disputed waters where the United States exists

Further details about China’s military activities in the waterway on Sunday have not yet been released.

Beijing:

China conducted military “combat patrols” in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday, the military said, on the same day the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia held joint exercises.

A day earlier, the defense ministers of four countries, including the Philippines, said they would conduct joint exercises in the region on Sunday. The Philippines has been involved in several contentious maritime disputes with Beijing recently.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command in Beijing said it was organizing “joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea.”

“All military activities that disrupt the situation in the South China Sea and create hot spots are under control,” China said in a statement, an apparent swipe at other exercises held in the sea.

Further details about China’s military activities in the waterway on Sunday have not yet been released.

The exercises come days ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan.

Senior U.S. officials have alarmed Beijing by repeatedly declaring that the United States is “irresolute” in its commitment to defending the Philippines from armed attacks in the South China Sea.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has become increasingly assertive in the region in recent years.

China’s coast guard said on Saturday it had “handled” a situation that occurred Thursday on a disputed reef where several Philippine ships were conducting “illegal” operations.

Under the guise of ‘protecting fisheries’, Philippine government ships have illegally violated and provoked, organized the media to deliberately incite and mislead, and continue to undermine stability in the South China Sea. “

“We tell the Philippines that any infringement tactics are in vain,” Gan said, adding that China would “regularly enforce the law in the waters under its jurisdiction.”

Beijing has ignored competing territorial claims by several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, a key corridor for global trade, and an international ruling that declared its position baseless.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a joint statement that the exercises held by the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia on Sunday were intended to “(ensure) that all nations can fly, sail and operate freely where international law allows” .

The exercise, called Maritime Cooperation Activity, will include naval and air forces from four countries, a joint statement said.

The statement did not elaborate on the specific content of the exercise.

The Japanese embassy in Manila said in a statement that the exercises would include “anti-submarine warfare training.”

Last week, the Australian warship Waramunga arrived on the Philippine island of Palawan, which faces fiercely disputed waters.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos issued a strongly worded statement on March 28, vowing that the country would not be “frightened into silence, submission or submission” by China.

Negotiations between the Philippines and Japan on a defense pact that would allow the two countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory are “still ongoing,” a Philippine foreign ministry spokesman told reporters last week.

Manila has reached similar agreements with Australia and the United States.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)