China to hold drills in disputed South China Sea on Sunday – Chinese Army

This frame grab from aerial video footage taken and released on March 23, 2024 by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, shows a vessel described by the Philippine armed forces as a China Coast Guard ship (bottom R) deploying water cannon against the Philippine military-chartered civilian boat Unaizah May 4 during its supply mission near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines accused the China Coast Guard of blocking and firing water cannon at a Filipino supply vessel on March 23 off a remote and contested South China Sea reef. (File photo by Handout / ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES / AFP)

China will conduct military “combat patrols” Sunday in the disputed South China Sea, a statement from the army said, the same day as joint drills by the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia.

“On April 7, the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army organizes joint naval and air combat patrols in the South China Sea,” said the statement.

“All military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are under control,” it added, in an apparent swipe at the other drills being held in the waters.

The announcement comes one day after defense chiefs from four countries including the Philippines — which has been engaged in several contentious maritime disputes with Beijing recently — said they would conduct joint drills Sunday in the area.

Further details about Chinese military activities in the waterway Sunday were not announced.

The exercises take place days before US President Joe Biden is due to hold the first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan.

Top US officials have repeatedly declared the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defending the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea — to the consternation of Beijing.

China claims territorial sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea and has been increasingly assertive in the region in recent years.