By Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese air and naval forces are conducting manoeuvres in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the military said on Saturday, hours after the country's top diplomat discussed ways of reducing regional tension with his U.S. counterpart.
The news comes after Australia and the Philippines said their militaries would hold a joint maritime activity with Japan, New Zealand and the United States in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
The Chinese drills will include "routine" early warning and reconnaissance exercises as well as patrols around Scarborough Shoal, the Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement, but gave no details.
"The theatre troops maintain a high degree of vigilance, resolutely defending national sovereignty, security and maritime rights and interests, (and) are firm in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea," it said.
One of Asia's most contested features, the Scarborough Shoal is 200 km (124 miles) off the Philippines, within its exclusive economic zone.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the atoll, coveted for its bountiful fish stocks and stunning turquoise lagoon, despite overlapping claims in the busy waterway by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
However, in 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled that China's sweeping claims were not supported by international law, a decision Beijing refuses to recognise.
The tribunal did not determine sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, which it said was a traditional fishing ground for several countries.
The announcement of the manoeuvres comes after Foreign Minister Wang Yi met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York for talks that covered ways to avoid conflict in the South China Sea.
In March, Blinken had assured the Philippines its defence partnership with the United States was "ironclad," after Manila accused Beijing of aggressive deployments in the South China Sea of its coast guard and fishing vessels suspected of being a maritime militia.
On Friday Wang "emphasised that China insists on resolving differences with countries directly concerned through dialogue and consultation," during the meeting, his ministry said in a statement.
Blinken said he raised China's "dangerous and destabilising actions" in the South China Sea and discussed improving communication between the two nations' militaries.
Wang told Blinken "the U.S. should not always stir up trouble in the South China Sea and should not undermine the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability," the Chinese foreign ministry added.
In a report on Friday, a thinktank based in Beijing estimated that warships of various nations spent more than 20,000 days annually in the South China Sea, while more than 30,000 military aircraft traverse it.
U.S. navy ships spent about 1,600 days at sea in the region, said the thinktank, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, as well as an undisclosed number of submarines.