China holds drills in South China Sea despite US talks
Chinese air and naval forces are conducting manoeuvres in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the military says, hours after the country’s top diplomat discussed ways of reducing regional tension with his US counterpart.
The news comes after Australia and the Philippines said their militaries would hold a joint maritime activity with Japan, New Zealand and the US in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
The Chinese drills will include “routine” early warning and reconnaissance exercises as well as patrols around Scarborough Shoal, the Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a statement on Saturday, but gave no details.
“The theatre troops maintain a high degree of vigilance, resolutely defending national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests, (and) are firm in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea,” it said.
One of Asia’s most contested features, the Scarborough Shoal is 200km off the Philippines, within its exclusive economic zone.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the atoll, coveted for its bountiful fish stocks and stunning turquoise lagoon, despite overlapping claims in the busy waterway by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
However, in 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled that China’s sweeping claims were not supported by international law, a decision Beijing refuses to recognise.
The tribunal did not determine sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it said was a traditional fishing ground for several countries.
The announcement of the manoeuvres comes after Foreign Minister Wang Yi met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York for talks that covered ways to avoid conflict in the South China Sea.
In March, Blinken had assured the Philippines that its defence partnership with the US was “ironclad” after Manila accused Beijing of aggressive deployments in the South China Sea of its coast guard and fishing vessels, which were suspected of being a maritime militia.
On Friday, Wang “emphasised that China insists on resolving differences with countries directly concerned through dialogue and consultation”, during the meeting, his ministry said in a statement.
Blinken said he raised China’s “dangerous and destabilising actions” in the South China Sea and discussed improving communication between the two nations’ militaries.
Wang told Blinken “the US should not always stir up trouble in the South China Sea and should not undermine the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability”, the Chinese foreign ministry added.
In a report on Friday, a think tank based in Beijing estimated that warships of various nations spent more than 20,000 days annually in the South China Sea, while more than 30,000 military aircraft traversed it.
US navy ships spent about 1600 days at sea in the region, said the think tank, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, and an undisclosed number of submarines.
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