China launches air, sea patrols near flashpoint Scarborough Shoal

Scarborough Shoal is 240km west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

China on Wednesday (Aug 7) carried out a combat patrol to test "strike capabilities" near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a flashpoint area also claimed by the Philippines.

Beijing has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Scarborough Shoal is 240km west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

China in 2012 used coastguard vessels to take control of the shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks that are part of a rich fishing ground and had long been used by Filipino fishermen as a safe harbour.

On Wednesday, the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said it had "organised a joint combat patrol in the sea and air space" near the area.

The manoeuvres tested "the reconnaissance and early warning, rapid mobility, and joint strike capabilities of theatre troops", Beijing said.