Chinese naval and air forces conducted patrols around a flashpoint reef in the South China Sea yesterday, after a slew of tense encounters with the Philippines over the past few months.
The patrols coincided with joint exercises carried out by the US, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines in Manila’s exclusive economic zone and within the South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims of several countries, including Taiwan and the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Photo: Reuters
Its claims include the waters around Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) — which Beijing seized from Manila in 2012 — where the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command yesterday said it held air and sea patrols.
The triangular chain of reefs and rocks is 240km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and about 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.
Beijing said the training activities around the shoal included “reconnaissance, early warning, and air-sea patrols.”
“Certain countries outside the region are stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, creating instability in the region,” the Southern Theater Command said in a statement.
“China holds indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island and its adjacent waters,” it added.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense in a statement said that a joint drill involving the five countries took place in the South China Sea.
Its maritime destroyer Sazanami participated in the exercises, the ministry said.
The US said the maritime exercises conducted with its allies demonstrated “a collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The Australian Department of Defence said that the HMAS Sydney and a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft were participating in exercises aimed at “upholding the right to freedom of navigation and overflight.”
Tensions between China and the Philippines have flared in the past few months during a series of confrontations in the waters around the contested Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) and Sabina Shoal (Xianbin, 仙濱暗沙).
In July, the two sides said they had reached a provisional deal on resupply missions to a Philippine ship, the Sierra Madre, which is grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal with a garrison on board, aimed at asserting Manila’s claims to the reef.
Beijing on Friday said it had “supervised” a Philippine ship as it delivered supplies as part of a resupply mission to the grounded vessel at the shoal.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS