A pair of heavily armed Chinese anti-ship bombers and their fighter escort flew over Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in an effort to deter one of the Philippines’ largest military exercises in years.
According to the website Naval News, the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA STC) claimed to have conducted a combat readiness patrol at a disputed point in the South China Sea last Thursday.
According to Beijing, these patrols “serve as an effective countermeasure to deal with all kinds of rights violations and provocative acts.” The operations are taking place amid the large-scale military exercise Balikatan 2026, which brings together the Philippines, the United States and Japan.
With 17,000 participants, this year’s Balikatan has placed greater focus on maritime strike operations against conventional adversaries, while also marking the first-ever participation of Japanese combat forces.
A major multinational maritime exercise was also held in northern Luzon, bringing together 11 ships from the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada. During the maneuvers, the flotilla was monitored by at least four Chinese warships, including a Type 815-class intelligence ship.
In recent years, the annual military exercise series has shifted its focus toward defending territories north of Manila, near Taiwan, a change that has not gone unnoticed by China.
Before the start of Balikatan, an editorial in Chinese state media criticized the Philippines for allowing foreign powers, such as the United States and Japan, to establish “military points dangerously close to Taiwan and to Chinese reefs and islands in the South China Sea.”
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