PLA Navy conducts "combat patrols" in South China Sea amid US presence

On the same day that the Philippines, the United States, Japan, and Australia conducted joint drills, China’s army reported that it carried out military “combat patrols” in the disputed South China Sea.

The declaration was made the day after defense chiefs from four nations, including the Philippines, which has recently been involved in a number of bitter maritime disputes with Beijing, declared they will carry out coordinated drills in the region on Sunday.

The Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing announced that it was planning “joint naval and air combat patrols in the South China Sea”.

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“All military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are under control,” it said in a statement, in an apparent swipe at the other drills being held in the waters.

There were no more announcements made regarding the Chinese military’s Sunday operations in the canal.

Days before US President Joe Biden is scheduled to convene the first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan, the exercises are taking place.

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To Beijing’s dismay, top US officials have frequently stated that the US is “ironclad” in its pledge to protect the Philippines from an armed attack in the South China Sea.

China has been acting more assertively in the South China Sea in recent years, claiming territorial authority over almost the whole body of water.

The Philippine Coast Guard was involved in “illegal” operations at a disputed reef on Thursday, and China’s Coast Guard announced on Saturday that it had “handled” the matter.

“Under the guise of ‘protecting fishing’, Philippine government ships have illegally violated and provoked, 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”.

Beijing has brushed aside competing territorial claims by several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea – a crucial route for global trade – as well as an international ruling that declared its stance baseless.

The drills conducted Sunday by the Philippines, United States, Japan and Australia 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.

Named the “Maritime Cooperative Activity”, the drills will include naval and air force units from all four countries, the joint statement said.

There were no details in the statement on what the drills would precisely include.

The Japanese embassy in Manila said in a statement that “anti-submarine warfare training” would be included in the drills.

Last week, Australian warship HMAS Warramunga arrived at the Philippine island of Palawan, which faces the hotly contested waters.

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

Talks between the Philippines and Japan for a defence pact that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory were “still ongoing”, a spokesman for the Philippine foreign affairs department told reporters last week.

Manila already has a similar agreement with Australia and the United States.

(With agency inputs)