BEIJING
Chinese and US warships were in the South China Sea on Thursday, conducting rival exercises in the disputed waters amid heightened tensions involving US ally the Philippines.
Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command a day before said a two-day deployment of its navy and air force, scheduled to end today, was carrying out “routine patrols” in the sea.
The United States said an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson was conducting two days of drills with the Philippines Navy.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.
This week’s drills follow a month of tense standoff between China and the Philippines in disputed reefs in the area that saw a collision between vessels from the two countries and Chinese ships blasting water cannons at Philippine boats.
“The South China Sea is becoming… a key defensive zone for China,” Michael Raska, assistant professor and military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, said.
