China has flexed its muscles by showing off its military capabilities in response to fresh military drills in the South China Sea.
Beijing has been at loggerheads with several of its neighbours as it continues to claim sovereignty of the vast majority of the body of water.
On August 7, the PRC carried out a combat patrol to test its “strike capabilities” in the flashpoint area of Second Thomas Shoal, which has been at the heart of an ongoing row with the Philippines for years.
The Shoal is located approximately 240km west of the main Filipino island of Luzon and 900km off the Chinese mainland.
The test came days after Manila carried out new military exercises with Vietnam, another country embroiled in the dispute over the South China Sea.
China’s Southern Theatre Command said it had “organised a joint combat patrol in the sea and air space,” near Second Thomas Shoal this week.
They said the operation was designed to test “the reconnaissance and early warning, rapid mobility, and joint strike capabilities of theatre troops.”
According to a regional expert, the move showed Beijing is “becoming more aggressive and forceful.”
Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea expert Jay Batongbacal told AFP: “It’s meant to intimidate.
“It’s definitely meant to send a message, a show of force.”
Tensions between Beijing and Manila have been escalating for months despite repeated appeals from the US, a key ally of the Philippines, for China to stand down.
One of the worst incidents between the two countries took place in June when knife and axe-wielding Chinese soldiers boarded a Filipino vessel near the Shoal.
Manila reported a sailor lost a thumb during the clash, accusing China of confiscating or destroying equipment including firearms.
China has blamed its neighbour for the escalation as it continues to reiterate its claims over the South China Sea.
In 2016, an arbitral tribunal stated that while it would not “rule on any question of sovereignty… and would not delimit any maritime boundary,” China’s claims over parts of the South China Sea had no lawful effect.
The US, Australia and Canada held air and naval manoeuvres with Manila on Wednesday in what they said was a show of force to promote the rule of law in the disputed South China Sea.
As the drills were underway, the Philippines Armed Forces said three Chinese Navy vessels tailed the joint exercises.
