China military conducts drills near Taiwan, Philippines

Chinese warships and aircraft on Wednesday passed through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines to carry out routine planned exercises in the Western Pacific, China's Defense Ministry said.

China's increasingly assertive moves to press sovereignty claims in the East and South China Sea have rattled the region and aroused concern in Washington, though Beijing says it has no hostile intent.

China has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year.

Wednesday's drills could cause alarm because of their location. China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as its own and has never renounced the use of force to gain control, and the China-Philippines dispute over the South China Sea is one of the most bitter of all the overlapping claims.

The joint drills “achieved their expected aims,” navy spokesman Liang Yang said in a ministry statement. They were routine annual drills, not aimed at any specific country or region and accorded with international law and practices, Liang said.

Such drills involving ships and aircraft far out at sea are common practice in other countries and normal for China's military.

“Going forward, similar drills and exercises will keep taking place,” Liang said.

An official of the Philippine coast guard said it had noticed nothing unusual in the waters to the north of the country, where the Bashi Channel is located, though it is closer to Taiwan along the northern edge of the Luzon Strait.

China has ramped up defense spending to modernize its forces, which are the world's largest and are gaining experience in operating far from its coast.

In a defense strategy paper last month, China vowed to continue growing its “open seas protection,” and criticized neighbors who take “provocative actions” on its reefs and islands.

Reuters