China has held sea and air combat drills at disputed Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited area of reefs and rocks it had seized from the Philippines in the South China Sea.

The Philippines has protested China’s baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as tensions between the two nations build up anew over their competing claims in the South China Sea. A protest was filed in relation to China’s action, the ...

China declared its maritime baselines around Scarborough Shoal after the Philippines passed laws defining its maritime zones and sea lanes last week.

China on Wednesday held joint military drills amid escalating maritime disputes with the Philippines, state media reported. The Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held naval and air combat readiness patrols around the Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in China and Panatag Shoal in the Philippines.

The Philippines expects U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific and support for its treaty ally amid South China Sea tensions to remain steady under Donald Trump, driven by bipartisan resolve in Washington, its ambassador to the U.

The Philippines has protested China’s baselines around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, as tensions between the two nations build up anew over their competing claims in the South China Sea.

CANBERRA >> China is stepping up pressure on the Philippines to concede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Manila’s Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after meeting his Australian counterpart in Canberra.