BEIJING
\nChinese 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.
\nBeijing\u2019s People\u2019s 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 \u201croutine patrols\u201d in the sea.
\nThe United States said an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson was conducting two days of drills with the Philippines Navy.
\nBeijing claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.
\nThis week\u2019s 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.
\n\u201cThe South China Sea is becoming\u2026 a key defensive zone for China,\u201d Michael Raska, assistant professor and military expert at Singapore\u2019s Nanyang Technological University, said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s People\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-378737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n