Beijing to carry out SCS combat drills
US warship sails near Phl’s Panganiban Reef
BEIJING – China’s navy will carry out combat drills in the South China Sea, the military’s official newspaper said yesterday, describing the move as part of regular annual exercises.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said this week it had shadowed a Chinese aircraft carrier group traversing the Taiwan Strait in a southwesterly direction – meaning into the disputed South China Sea – in what Taiwan judged to be a drill.
In a brief report on its WeChat account, the People’s Liberation Army Daily said the combat exercises would take place shortly, though it gave no details on timing, location or what ships would participate.
“This is a routine annual planned arrangement for the navy, the aim of which is to test and improve the military’s training level and to fully raise the ability to win. It is not aimed at any specific country or target,” the newspaper added, without elaborating.
China’s navy and air force frequently carry out drills in the South China Sea, where the government has been building man-made islands and constructing airstrips and other facilities, unnerving the region.
China claims most of the South China Sea, a key trade route and home to areas that are believed to hold large quantities of oil and natural gas. Along with China, parts of the sea are subject to competing claims from Brunei,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
China routinely rejects criticism of its activities in the South China Sea, saying as it is Chinese territory it can do what it wants.
US warship sails near Mischief
A US Navy destroyer carried out a “freedom of navigation” operation yesterday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built by China in the South China Sea, US officials told
Reuters, a move likely to anger Beijing.
Friday’s operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing’s efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS Mustin traveled close to Panganiban (Mischief) Reef in the Spratly Islands and carried out maneuvering operations. China has territorial disputes with its neighbors over the area.
Neither China’s foreign nor defense ministries immediately responded to a request for comment.
In the past, Beijing has reacted angrily to such moves, saying they are provocative.
The US military has a longstanding position that its operations are carried out throughout the world, including in areas claimed by allies, and they are separate from political considerations.
However, the latest operation, the first since January, comes just a day after US President Donald Trump lit a slow-burning fuse when he signed a presidential memorandum that will target up to $60 billion in Chinese goods with tariffs, but only after a 30-day consultation period that starts once a list is published.
The United States has criticized China’s construction of islands and buildup of military facilities in the sea, and is concerned they could be used to restrict free nautical movement.
About $5 trillion in shipborne trade passes through the South China Sea each year. The US military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national defense strategy recently unveiled.
The United States has been pushing allies to carry out freedom of navigation operations as well.
Earlier this year, Britain said one of its warships would pass through the South China Sea to assert freedom-of-navigation rights.