China conducts military drills near Scarborough Shoal

Satellite image of Scarborough Shoal in March 2016

The military drills include early warning and reconnaissance operations, as well as patrols around Scarborough Shoal, according to a statement from the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command.

There were no specific details about the exercise, such as its duration and scale, according to Reuters and AFP on September 28.

Scarborough Shoal is about 240 km west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and nearly 900 km from China's Hainan Island. China seized control of the shoal from the Philippines in 2012.

The announcement was made hours after a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New York City (New York State, USA) on September 27 (local time).

The top US-China diplomats discussed the situation in the South China Sea among other issues.

The exercise also comes after the Philippines and Australia announced they would hold joint maritime operations with Japan, New Zealand and the United States in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/trung-quoc-dien-tap-quan-su-gan-bai-can-scarborough-185240928123410738.htm