The first Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) warship to transit the Taiwan Strait earlier this week joined naval and air forces from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the U.S. for joint military exercises in the disputed South China Sea on Saturday.
Highlighting the ramped-up tensions in the area, the joint show of force came as the Chinese military’s Southern Theater Command said that it had also organized its air and sea forces to carry out drills and patrols of the sea and airspace around the flash point Scarborough Shoal in the strategic waterway.
The drills by the U.S. military and its partners — the fourth iteration of the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity — were held within an unidentified area of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the strategic waterway, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Tokyo sent the MSDF destroyer Sazanami through the Taiwan Strait to join the exercises in the South China Sea in a historic move that angered Beijing and marked the latest military tit-for-tat between the two Asian powerhouses.
The Japanese Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff Office said in a statement that Saturday’s exercises were in support of freedom of navigation and overflight and were intended “to demonstrate a joint commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
In a separate statement, the Philippine Armed Forces did not specify where in the country’s EEZ the drills would take place, or on which side of the country they would be held, but previous iterations were held in the West Philippine Sea, a part of the South China Sea that encompasses Scarborough Shoal, some 220 kilometers west of the Philippine island of Luzon.
Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by Manila, has been effectively controlled by Beijing since 2012. Beijing has maintained a constant coast guard presence at the feature — a traditional fishing ground of Filipino fishermen — despite it sitting within the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile (370 km) EEZ.
Under its so-called nine dash line, Beijing maintains a claim to some 90% of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade flow every year, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Beijing has in recent years hardened its position on the South China Sea, which flies in the face of a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidating most of its claims in the waterway, prompting pushback from other claimants.
This has led to fears of an accident or armed skirmish erupting into a full-blown conflict, especially over the waters and islands claimed by both China and the Philippines, which has a mutual defense treaty with the United States.
In announcing Saturday’s drills near Scarborough Shoal, known by Beijing as Huangyan Island, the Chinese military also used the opportunity to criticize the U.S. and its partners, albeit obliquely.
“Individual countries outside the region are stirring up trouble in the South China Sea and creating instability in the region,” the Southern Theater Command said. “China has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Island and its surrounding waters. Theater troops maintain a high degree of vigilance, are firmly safeguarding national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests, and will resolutely maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.”