Beijing ramped up Navy and Coast Guard activities in the South China Sea over the last week to counter Manila’s recent joint patrols and military exercises, according to Chinese state media. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held “routine patrols” from Friday to Monday in response to joint patrols organized between the Philippines and “non-regional countries,

India and the Philippines have staged joint naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea for the first time, antagonizing China.

Indian and Philippine naval crews sailed together for the first time in the South China Sea, officials said on Monday, one of several joint exercises the