China intensifies naval, air patrols in South China Sea

Beijing: The Chinese military on Wednesday said it has conducted "combat readiness patrols" over waters and airspace surrounding the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, according to state media Global Times.

The news outlet cited Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to state that the patrol activities, in the area that China calls Huangyan Dao, involving naval and air forces were "lawful." Philippines refers to the island as Panatag Shoal.

The shoal situated 220 km west of the Philippines's island Luzon is claimed by both Beijing and Manila. The area has been under China's control following a tense confrontation in 2012 that marked a significant escalation in the territorial disputes between the two countries.
The Philippines government on Tuesday protested "Chinese escalations" in the South China Sea after it implemented a maritime law asserting its exclusive right to tap resources in a 370-kilometre (200-nautical-mile) zone off the country's coast.

Last week the Philippines passed two legislations pertaining to the contested waters - The new Maritime Zones Act notably includes much of the Spratly Islands within Philippine territorial claims and extends Manila's territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles from the baselines of these islands.

While the Philippine Maritime Zones Act clarifies Philippine waters both internally and into the exclusive economic zone, the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act targets a long-standing issue that the country has faced with foreign vessels transiting its waters.
Composed of an archipelago of 7,641 islands, the country is frequently used by Chinese forces transiting between the first and second island chains without informing the Philippines beforehand.

China condemned the new laws, claiming that they destabilize the region. According to Radio Free Asia, China declared baselines for its territorial sea around the shoal, which lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Beijing also asserted its claim over 64 islands that lie under another country's territory.

The Philippine Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns stated, "The establishment of the baselines by China around the shoal is a continuation of its 2012 illegal seizure of the shoal, which the Philippines continues to strongly oppose."
A foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing said, "This is a natural step by the Chinese government to lawfully strengthen marine management and is consistent with international law and common practices."

In 2016, a UN arbitration tribunal rejected China's assertion over the reefs in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal.
On Tuesday, the Philippine Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro Jr said during a press briefing in Canberra that there is an "increasing demand by Beiing" for Manila to give up its claims in the South China Sea.

"What we see is an increasing demand by Beijing for us to concede our sovereign rights in the area because of our need to explore and exploit the resources in these areas for the benefit of our own people," Teodoro said at a press briefing in Canberra after his meeting with his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles as cited in the Philippine Inquirer.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard said that n October alone, the military monitored 29 Chinese vessels "passing through" the West Philippine Sea, waters within the Philippines' 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

For decades, China has been engaged in territorial disputes with several countries over claims to certain islands in the South China Sea, on whose shelf significant hydrocarbon reserves were discovered. These include the Xisha Archipelago (the Paracel Islands) and the islands of Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (the Scarborough Shoal), contested by Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.