China stages military drills in West Philippine Sea

BEIJING– China staged three days of military exercises in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) and plans to boost its offshore maritime patrol force, state media said Friday, as tensions with its neighbors simmer.

China has competing claims with Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei over potentially resource-rich areas in the West Philippine Sea which have flared in recent weeks.

Beijing has pledged it will not resort to force to resolve the lingering territorial disputes, after the Philippines this week sought help from the United States and Vietnam staged live-fire military exercises.

According to the Global Times, 14 Chinese navy vessels recently staged drills in waters near China’s southern tropical island of Hainan, including anti-submarine maneuvers and the beach landing of troops.

The exercises in the West Philippine Sea were aimed at “defending atolls and protecting sea lanes,” reports said.

The China Maritime Surveillance force meanwhile will be bolstered from the current staff of 9,000 to 15,000 personnel by 2020, the China Daily reported.

The force falls under the State Oceanic Administration, an agency that supervises China’s coastline and territorial waters.

The patrol fleet will have 350 vessels by 2015 and 520 by 2020, the report said, citing an unnamed senior China Maritime Surveillance official. It will also have 16 planes by 2015.

Disputes at sea between China and other countries have been on the rise, a State Oceanic Administration report said last month.

China said Thursday it had dispatched a maritime patrol vessel to disputed West Philippine Sea waters but insisted it was committed to peace in the region.

Taiwan’s navy said this week it would proceed with scheduled patrol missions in the disputed waters, sending a naval fleet to Taiwan-controlled Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys, one of the disputed island chains.