China Southern Theater Command? has confirmed that on Saturday a?naval patrol and an?air raid was conducted around the Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea.

The shoal lies in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, but China claims it as its own territory.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not respond immediately to a comment request.

The post said that China had increased combat readiness patrols within the area, "resolutely countering?infringement provocations by individual countries in the region."

Joint exercises were conducted by the militaries of?the United States and the Philippines in 'the Scarborough Shoal' area earlier.

This week

Manila's military said that the drill was the 11th of its kind since November 2023. (Reporting and editing by William Mallard, Christian Schmollinger, and David Kirton)

(source: Reuters)