South Korean officials separately announced the discovery of more Chinese buoys in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea, while China’s navy carried out “combat readiness patrols” close to the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
According to state-run news agency Xinhua, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Southern Theatre Command conducted the drills in the “territorial waters and airspace of China’s Huangyan Island and surrounding areas” on Saturday, using China’s name for the Scarborough Shoal.
According to the report, the PLA “further strengthened the control of relevant sea and air areas, resolutely defend national sovereignty and security, and resolutely maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
The Philippines claim the name of the rocky islet that is 220 kilometers (119 miles) west of Luzon, the nearest landmass. In 2012, Beijing blocked and seized the territory, a traditional fishing area, from Manila.
Despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that Beijing’s claims had no legal basis under international law, the Chinese navy regularly conducts provocative military exercises in the region as part of its claims of sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea.
After a Chinese naval ship hit a Philippine coastguard ship with a water cannon close to the shoal, Manila accused Beijing of performing “dangerous manoeuvres and obstruction.”
Yellow Sea tense is high
South Korean officials also announced on Saturday that they had received three additional Chinese buoys close to overlapping waters with South Korea, bringing the total number of Chinese buoys installed in the Yellow Sea to 13.
According to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency, a ministry of defense official stated that “we are closely monitoring activities within the provisional maritime zone [PMZ] and that we will closely [cooperate] with relevant agencies to protect our maritime sovereignty.
According to Yonhap, two of the Chinese buoys were installed close to the area when they were first discovered in May 2023 but were only made public this week.
The third buoy is located inside the maritime zone, a dispute that arises because South Korea and China have overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZ) claims.
China asserts that a 1962 agreement that South Korea considers to be its economic zone extends to the maritime boundaries of its country.
The Yellow Sea PMZ permits maritime resource management and forbids activities besides fishing and navigation.
However, tensions between Beijing and Seoul have increased as a result of China’s repeated installation of observation buoys measuring three meters across and six meters tall in the water since 2022, as well as a fixed steel structure measuring six meters tall.
According to the Korea Joongang Daily newspaper, China declared three no-sail zones in the area last week, “believed to be for military training purposes.”
Source: Aljazeera
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