China conducts naval, air exercise around Scarborough Shoal

SHANGHAI - China's military conducted a joint naval and air training exercise around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, it said on Sunday.

The training was held in the waters and airspace around the Scarborough Shoal, which ​China calls Huangyan Dao. It is also claimed by the Philippines, where ​it is known as Bajo de Masinloc.

The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command, in a statement on WeChat, described the operation as ⁠a necessary response to actions by "certain countries" it said had undermined regional ​peace and stability.

The Chinese military said the training "aims to test and enhance combat capabilities in safeguarding China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests".

The Philippine Embassy in Beijing ​did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Chinese ​military training around the shoal.

Scarborough Shoal, a triangular coral reef formation which surrounds a lagoon, is famed for its rich waters and marine resources. It is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) deemed Scarborough Shoal a high-tide feature, meaning a number of its rocks remained exposed at high tide.

Despite this, the tribunal found that the high-tide features at the shoal “are rocks that cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own” and therefore shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

China, which does not recognize the ruling, also claims sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it calls “Huangyan Dao” and treats it as part of the Zhongsha Islands.

The PCA also said Scarborough Shoal has been a traditional fishing ground for fishermen of many nationalities and that China has unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing thereat. —Reuters/KG, GMA News