China said on April 30 that its naval and air forces held combat-readiness patrols near Scarborough Shoal in response to Balikatan exercises running April 20–May 8, which involved seven countries. The Southern Theater Command characterised the patrols as countermeasures against perceived provocations, and the China Coast Guard said it conducted law-enforcement patrols there. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it detected no large-scale Chinese activity and accused Beijing of information operations, while Manila has protested China s 2024 territorial baseline declaration around the shoal.
China Conducts Naval and Air Patrols Near Scarborough Shoal Amid Multinational Balikatan Drills
A satellite image of fishing vessels at the entrance, which is blocked by a floating barrier, to the disputed Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea, April 11, 2026. Vantor/Handout via REUTERS
BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) — China said on Thursday that its naval and air forces conducted combat-readiness patrols close to Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea, describing the operations as a response to ongoing multinational Balikatan exercises.
The Chinese statement said the patrols were carried out in reaction to annual regional drills held from April 20 to May 8 that brought together forces from Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United States, Japan, Canada and France to demonstrate advanced weaponry and operational preparedness.
U.S. and Philippine officials have said this year s Balikatan, or "shoulder to shoulder," exercises involve the largest number of participating countries to date. During drills on Monday, participating forces practised coastal defence manoeuvres and tested joint capabilities to protect territorial waters, including repelling a simulated assault with live fire on designated targets and intercepting potential threats.
“Such patrols serve as an effective countermeasure to cope with all sorts of rights-violation and provocative acts,” the Southern Theater Command said in a statement describing Thursday s operations. “They are meant to resolutely safeguard China s territorial sovereignty and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Later on Thursday the China Coast Guard said it conducted law-enforcement patrols near Scarborough Shoal, an area at the centre of a long-running dispute over fishing rights and sovereignty. China in 2024 declared a baseline that it describes as territorial waters around the shoal, which Beijing names Huangyan Island.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines responded that its monitoring systems had not detected any unusual or large-scale military activity in the area to corroborate Beijing s account. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy s spokesperson for the South China Sea, accused China of running information operations to justify what Manila calls an illegal and coercive presence within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone.
“This appears to be another instance of information operations designed to project a false sense of control and to justify their illegal, coercive, and aggressive presence within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone,” Roy Vincent Trinidad said.
Manila has formally protested China s 2024 baselines, saying the claims infringe upon Philippine sovereignty and contravene international law. A 2016 international arbitration tribunal ruled in favour of the Philippines, finding that China s broader maritime claims had no legal basis; however, Beijing has not accepted that ruling.
China has in the past criticised joint military exercises by the Philippines and its allies, saying they raise regional tensions. At a Thursday press briefing Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang reiterated Beijing s stance, arguing the Asia-Pacific region needs peace and stability rather than outside powers stirring division.
“The Asia-Pacific region needs peace and stability, rather than outside powers stirring up division,” Zhang said.
The developments underscore continuing tensions in the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims and freedom-of-navigation concerns regularly prompt patrols, diplomatic protests and multinational exercises.
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