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China puts army on alert in South China Sea

On November 10, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest with the Philippines after Manila implemented a maritime law asserting its exclusive right to tap resources in a 370-kilometer zone off the country’s coast

BEIJING, November 13. /TASS/. On Wednesday, China put its troops on alert to patrol the waters off the disputed island of Huangyan (Scarborough Shoal) in the South China Sea, the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) reported.

What China termed "legitimate" measures involved the PLA’s naval and air forces.

On November 10, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest with the Philippines after Manila implemented a maritime law asserting its exclusive right to tap resources in a 370-kilometer (200-nautical-mile) zone off the country’s coast. China said the move was in violation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea as it promised to intensify patrol around Huangyan.

For decades, China has been engaged in territorial disputes with several countries over claims to certain islands in the South China Sea, on whose shelf significant hydrocarbon reserves were discovered. Those primarily include the Xisha Archipelago (the Paracel Islands) and the islands of Nansha (Spratly) and Huangyan (the Scarborough Shoal), contested by Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

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