Chinese military conducts patrol near disputed Scarborough shoal

The Chinese military held a large-scale maritime and airspace patrol this week near Scarborough shoal, a disputed reef in the South China Sea known in China as Huangyan Dao, citing “instability” created by “certain countries.”

Scarborough Shoal, known as Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines, is about 125 nautical miles (232 kilometers) from the main Philippine island of Luzon. China now effectively controls it, even though a landmark international arbitration case in 2016 rejected Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea.

The People’s Liberation Army, or PLA, Southern Theater Command, responsible for the contested waterway, said in a statement on Thursday that navy and air forces were taking part in the “routine training” which included reconnaissance and early warning; and maritime and airspace patrol near the shoal.

The Philippines has not reacted to the news but in the past Manila has repeatedly protested against what it saw as “China’s bullying.”

Also on Thursday, a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group entered the South China Sea, according to ship-tracking data obtained and analyzed by Radio Free Asia.

Data from the MarineTraffic website show the nuclear-powered USS Abraham Lincoln, or CVN-72, transited the Singapore Strait and entered the South China Sea on Thursday morning before moving northeast. Unusually, the ship has its automatic identification system, which shows its location, turned on.

‘Stirring up trouble’

The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group also includes Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., and destroyers USS Spruance and USS Michael Murphy.

The destroyers have just visited Thailand and Singapore, and are now “underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations,” the U.S. Navy said.

USS Abraham Lincoln is the fifth aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class that comprises the largest warships in the world. The U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed fleet with a continuous presence in the Indo-Pacific for more than 75 years.

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The navy said in a news release that the fleet “routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”

In its statement, the PLA Southern Theater Command criticized “certain countries from outside the region” that were “stirring up trouble” and creating instability in the South China Sea but did not name any country.

It reiterated that China has “indisputable sovereignty” over Huangyan Dao and its surrounding waters, and that Chinese troops would “resolutely” defend national sovereignty and maritime rights.