This Thursday, China called joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea, where the Chinese army is conducting parallel maneuvers, a provocation.
According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, for Beijing, such exercises represent an encroachment on the territorial integrity of China.
The exercises are aimed at “showing strength and do not contribute to controlling disputes and the situation,” he told reporters in Beijing, as quoted by the French news agency AFP.
The joint military maneuvers come after a series of incidents in disputed waters.
Manila and Beijing have a long history of maritime disputes in the South China Sea, but former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was reluctant to criticize his powerful neighbor.
Since assuming the presidency in June 2022, his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has taken a tougher stance toward China on sovereignty issues and moved closer to the United States.
In December, Chinese ships fired water cannons at Philippine ships during two separate resupply missions to disputed reefs, according to videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard.
There was also a collision between a Philippine ship and a Chinese coast guard ship. China and the Philippines then blamed each other for the accident.
In this context, the Chinese army announced on Wednesday that its navy and air force will “conduct routine patrols” in the South China Sea until this Thursday.
The Army did not specify the location of the exercise or the number of soldiers and aircraft involved.
The previous Chinese military exercises to be announced publicly in the China Sea date back to November.
China held four more exercises in September.
According to the US Navy, a naval air group from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is taking part in the US exercise with the Philippines.
“The U.S. Navy regularly conducts these types of exercises to strengthen ties with allied and partner nations,” he said in a statement, adding that the maneuvers would also last two days.
China claims to be the first country to discover and name islands in the South China Sea, a vast maritime area through which much of the trade between Asia and the rest of the world now passes.
Other coastal countries (Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei) have competing claims and each controls several islands.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an organization based in the Netherlands, rejected China’s claims as having no legal basis.
Beijing condemned the decision, saying the Philippine trial did not comply with the law.
In recent years, China has built artificial islands in the China Sea and militarized them to strengthen its position.
“The South China Sea is becoming a key defense area for China,” military analyst Michael Raska, a professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told AFP.
According to Raschka, Beijing intends to make this vast maritime zone a “China-only controlled waterway” to increase its influence and projection capabilities.
Faced with China’s territorial claims, growing influence and military capabilities, the Philippines signed military agreements with the United States and Australia this year.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.