China Holds Combat Patrol' in South China Sea Amid US-led War Games - South China Sea News - Al Jazeera

5/1/24, 10:48 PM China holds ‘combat patrol’ in South China Sea amid US-led war games | South China
-led war games | South China Sea News | Al Jazeera
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News | South China Sea
China holds ‘combat patrol’ in South China Sea amid US-led war games
Beijing’s naval and air patrols in the disputed waterway take place as US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines
conduct the first joint drills.
China's People's Liberation Army says all the hotspots in South China Sea are 'under control' [File: Soe Than Win/AFP]
7 Apr 2024
China has conducted military “combat patrols” in the disputed South China Sea, as the United States
holds the first joint military exercises with the Philippines, Japan and Australia.
Beijing’s surprise announcement of a naval drill on Sunday came a day after defence chiefs from the
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four countries said the Philippines would host joint drills in the same area on the same day.
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5/1/24, 10:48 PM China holds ‘combat patrol’ in South China Sea amid US-led war games | South China Sea News | Al Jazeera
Philippines flags ‘harassment’ by Chinese vessels ahead of Japan, US drills
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Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command said it was organising “joint
naval and air combat patrols in the South China Sea”.
“All military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are un‐
der control,” it said in a statement in an apparent swipe at the US-led drills.
The Chinese army gave no further details about its activities in the waterway on Sunday.
The exercises took place days before US President Joe Biden was due to hold the first trilateral sum‐
mit with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines.
Top US officials have repeatedly declared the US’s “ironclad” commitment to defending the
Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea – to the consternation of Beijing.
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Trading accusations
China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea and has been increasingly assertive in
the region in recent years.
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A 2016 ruling by a court in The Hague declared Beijing’s claim as without basis. But Beijing has ig‐
nored that ruling as well as competing claims by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.
A Chinese coastguard ship next to a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries vessel in an area within Manila’s internationally-defined
200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone in March 2024 [File: Philippine Coast Guard/Handout via AFP]

On Saturday, China’s coastguard also traded accusations with the Philippines. It said it had “handled”
a situation on Thursday at Iroquois Reef, claiming several ships from the Philippines were engaged in
“illegal” operations.
“Under the guise of ‘protecting fishing’, Philippine government ships have illegally violated and pro‐
voked, organised media to deliberately incite and mislead, continuing to undermine stability in the
South China Sea,” spokesman Gan Yu said.
“We are telling the Philippines that any infringement tactics are in vain,” Gan said, adding that China
would “regularly enforce the law in waters under [its] jurisdiction”.
Iroquois Reef lies about 128 nautical miles (237 kilometres) from the Philippines’ island of Palawan,
and within its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as defined under international law.
Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela also accused China of conducting “illegal enforcement
operations”.
The reef lies some 1,215 kilometres (657 nautical miles) from China’s southernmost Hainan island.
The joint drills, hosted by the Philippines on Sunday, are intended to “[ensure] that all countries are
free to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin
said in a joint statement.
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Named the “Maritime Cooperative Activity”, the drills will include naval and air force units from all
four countries, the joint statement said.
Reports said the exercises will also include anti-submarine warfare training to safeguard “the rule of
law that is the foundation for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region”.
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5/1/24, 10:48 PM China holds ‘combat patrol’ in South China Sea amid US-led war games | South China

-led war games | South China Sea News | Al Jazeera

News | South China Sea

Philippines flags ‘harassment’ by Chinese vessels ahead of Japan, US drills

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