China Deploys Naval Forces as Japan and Philippines Start Maritime Talks

The Government of China has launched a series of naval and air patrols in the South China Sea and east of Taiwan to protest the announcement of maritime boundary delimitation talks between Japan and the Philippines. Beijing declared the negotiations over exclusive economic zones and continental shelves illegal and null, asserting that the process violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and infringes upon Chinese sovereignty.

On May 31, the People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command and the China Coast Guard conducted combat-readiness patrols around Scarborough Shoal. These maneuvers were described as countermeasures to a five-day joint maritime exercise held between May 26 and May 30 by U.S. and Philippine forces. During the 2026 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro stated that Manila remains under severe threat from China despite a diplomatic thaw between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On June 1, the China Coast Guard deployed a task group led by the vessel Daishan to conduct law enforcement patrols in waters east of Taiwan. This deployment prompted protests from Taiwan's government, which requested that Japan and the Philippines respect Taiwanese rights in the overlapping zones. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence also reported heightened activity on June 2, detecting eight Chinese naval vessels and seven aircraft entering its southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara defended the talks, stating that any resulting agreement would not be legally binding on third parties.