The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command conducted routine patrols in the South China Sea on Friday and Saturday, the command's spokesperson Tian Junli said on Sunday. 

Chinese experts said the Philippines is again attempting to project toughness by aligning with external powers, while China's statement underscores its aim to manage the South China Sea through maritime actions as an effort to maintain peace and stability in the region.

The Philippine Navy joined the US Navy and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force in a so-called "regular" trilateral exercise on Friday and Saturday, The Japan Times reported. The Philippine News Agency claimed that exercises covered anti-submarine warfare, interdiction, search and rescue, cross-deck landings and coordinated naval maneuvers.

The Philippines' frequent actions to rope in external forces for so-called "joint patrols" and spreading illegal claims have undermined regional peace and stability, Tian said, according to the Southern Theater Command's official WeChat account. 

"We sternly warn the Philippines to immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions in the South China Sea. Bringing in external backing is doomed to be futile," Tian said.

He added that PLA forces in the region remain on high alert and will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, security and the peace and stability of the South China Sea, stressing that any attempt to stir up trouble will not succeed.

The statement followed routine patrols the command carried out in the South China Sea on September 3, which also came in response to a so-called "joint patrol" conducted by the Philippines, Australia and Canada. Tian earlier warned that "any attempts to disrupt the South China Sea or create hotspots will not succeed."

The Philippines primarily relies on the support of external forces in its attempt to project a tough stance on the South China Sea issue, Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times, adding that this is attempting to lend legitimacy to the so-called South China Sea arbitration of 2016, and to seek military assurances for these unlawful maritime rights.

By involving other nations, the Philippines attempts to increase the cost of China's countermeasures or enforcement actions, forming a narrative alliance through so-called joint patrols to portray these destabilizing actions as efforts to uphold so-called freedom of navigation and a rules-based maritime order, Chen added.

The drills happened as China's State Council has recently responded and approved a proposal by the Ministry of Natural Resources to establish Huangyan Dao national nature reserve. A statement of China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration noted that its primary conservation focus is the coral reef ecosystem.

With the Philippine side expressing its so-called objections to China's plan to build the nature reserve, US Department of State Secretary Marco Rubio claimed that the US stands with its Philippine ally in rejecting such plans, the Philippines News Agency reported on Saturday.

Regarding the motives behind these actions, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that external forces are attempting to exploit the chaos they have created for their own gain. They may also seek to use the South China Sea issue as a bargaining chip in negotiations with China to gain advantages in other areas.

Experts pointed out that each country has its own calculations at stake in the joint patrols. Xu stated that for Japan, strengthening joint patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea aims to alleviate pressure it faces in the East China Sea.

The US, by hyping military presence and joint exercises with the Philippines, is attempting to advance its Indo-Pacific strategy, forming a key part of its broader move to counter China, Xu added.

Xu added that China's increased patrols in the South China Sea and opposition to foreign intervention are efforts to inject positive factors for regional stability, and the statement by the command signals to other nations that China will guide and manage the South China Sea situation through maritime actions, steering regional security order constructively.

（Source: Global Times）