China holds military drills near disputed Scarborough Shoal

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BEIJING — China conducted joint naval and air drills near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Saturday, escalating tensions with the Philippines days after Manila submitted a United Nations claim to extend its seabed rights in the South China Sea.

The exercises near the shoal — known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines — tested the Chinese military's ability to coordinate air and sea operations and rapidly deploy reinforcements, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

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The drills followed Beijing's criticism of the Philippines' bid to extend its continental shelf to include the disputed area, part of the resource-rich South China Sea that China claims almost in its entirety.

In a statement, the People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said the Philippines' "so-called territorial sea baselines of Huangyan Dao" were "illegal and invalid."

China also issued new regulations governing a nature reserve it established around Scarborough Shoal last year, banning unauthorized fishing, mining and coral harvesting in the area.

The Scarborough Shoal has remained a major flashpoint between the two countries, with frequent confrontations involving Chinese coast guard vessels and Philippine sailors and fishermen.

Last week alone, at least three incidents were reported in the disputed waters. The Philippine military said a Chinese coast guard officer injured a Filipino sailor by striking him in the head with a baton during one of the encounters.

The South China Sea is one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes and is believed to hold significant oil and natural gas reserves, making it a longstanding source of regional tensions.