China's military says it held combat readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal; Taiwan says 53 Chinese vessels are active from Japan to the Philippines

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Friday 30 October that its naval and air forces had conducted combat readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal, a disputed feature in the South China Sea claimed by both China and the Philippines.

The PLA Southern Theater Command called the patrols a “necessary countermeasure in response to the Philippines’ rights-violation and provocative acts” and said it had strengthened such patrols this month. The China Coast Guard said it also carried out law-enforcement patrols around the shoal on Friday. Neither gave details of the Philippine actions they referred to. The Philippine embassy in Beijing and the Philippine military did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

Separately, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, posted a map on X on 28 October showing 53 Chinese ships, 34 of them navy warships, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, operating from southern Japan to Taiwan and east of the Philippines. “The simultaneous threat to Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines is obvious,” Wu said. Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on 29 October that the Liaoning’s training in the western Pacific was an annual routine not directed at any country.

Background

China has controlled access to Scarborough Shoal, off the Philippine island of Luzon, since a 2012 standoff. A 2016 international arbitration ruling rejected China’s broad claims in the South China Sea; Beijing does not recognise the ruling. The United States has a mutual defence treaty with the Philippines. US Army Pacific commander Ronald Clark said on 27 October that US forces had prepared under the assumption that China could move on Taiwan as early as 2027, Stars and Stripes reported. China says Taiwan is its territory; Taiwan’s government says only its people can decide their future.