The Truth About The South China Sea: A Voice From Vietnam (Part VI)
	Bien Dong Sea: Philippines protests against China's illegaly fishing seizures.
	The Truth About The South China Sea: A Voice From Vietnam (Part V)

Chinese warships pictured on a 2018 exercise in the South China Sea. Photo: AP

SCMP cited China’s announcement on a drill in theSouth China Seaor Bien Dong Sea after it was reportedly to plan a separate exercise in the Yellow Sea. The drills held amidst ongoing tensions with the US, which is conducting a series of exercises in the region, and on Friday the USS Ronald Reagan and its carrier strike group returned to the South China Sea for a series of air defense exercises after a joint drill with Japan.

The US Navyalso sent a destroyer, the USS Mustin, through the Taiwan Strait following the exercise with Japan in what America said was a demonstration of its commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

This week CNN also broadcast rare footage provided by the US Navy showing a reconnaissance plane flying over the South China Sea.

The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command said on Wednesday that the military was on “high alert” to protect China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and monitor US activity.

Meanwhile, it is reported that China has recently deployed fighter jets and an H-6J bomber to Vietnam’s Phu Lam (Woody) Island, the largest island in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in early August.

China’s deployment of weapons and fighter aircraft to Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago is not only a violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty but also further exacerbates the situation in Bien Dong Sea, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on August 20.

China has stepped up the number of drills in the region in recent months.

On Friday, the PLA said it would stage an exercise off the cities of Qingdao and Lianyungang starting on Saturday and finishing on Wednesday. The exercise follows two live-fire drills in the East China Sea earlier this month.

The exercise follows the joint US-Japanese exercise involving the Ronald Reagan strike group, Japan’s Ikazuchi destroyers and two US B-1B bombers.

Shanghai-based military expert Ni Lexiong said China wanted to send a strong signal to the US, adding: “We are also preparing ourselves for potential wars in the future.”

The Truth About The South China Sea: A Voice From Vietnam (Part VI) As being shown in world history, unilateral use of force to materialize territorial sovereignty ambitions in disregard of international law poses a serious danger to ...

Bien Dong Sea: Philippines protests against China's illegaly fishing seizures. Manila filed a diplomatic protest after Chinese forces confiscated fishing equipment illegally in a disputed shoal in their latest territorial spat in Bien Dong Sea ...

The Truth About The South China Sea: A Voice From Vietnam (Part V) Apart from the ever-fiercer sovereignty disputes between China and other coastal states, the South China Sea has become a center of increasingly acute strategic competition ...