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' foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, November 13, to protest against Beijing's establishment of baseline coordinates around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea,

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

China on Sunday said it delimited the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Scarborough Shoal — which it calls Huangyan Dao — saying it’s a “natural step” to lawfully strengthen marine management. In response, Manila’s National Maritime ...

The move was a direct response to the Philippines’ enactment of two new laws aimed at strengthening the country’s own maritime claims.

The Philippines has explicitly labeled China's baseline declarations around Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) as illegal under international law — a direct pushback against Beijing after it aired its fury over Manila's new maritime zones law.

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.

China is putting ever-greater pressure on the Philippines to cede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Australian counterpart in 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.