A guided-missile frigate attached to a destroyer flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command cleaves through the waves during a training exercise in recent days. Photo:China Military

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday launched a two-day routine patrol in the South China Sea, concurrently with a US-Philippines joint patrol in the region, with experts saying that the PLA patrol is pointed toward infringement and provocative actions by the Philippines and the US, and displays China’s determination and firm will in safeguarding territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.

The PLA Southern Theater Command has organized naval and air forces to conduct a routine patrol in the South China Sea from Wednesday to Thursday, the PLA Southern Theater Command said in a press release on Wednesday.

“The troops of the theater command are on high alert so as to firmly safeguard national sovereign security and maritime rights and interests. Any military activities that upset the situation or create tension in the South China Sea are completely under control,” the press release read.

While the PLA Southern Theater Command did not name the parties that could “upset the situation or create tension,” Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Philippines and the US began a two-day joint patrol in the South China Sea on Wednesday.

It marks the second US-Philippines joint patrol since November 2023 and involves four vessels from the Philippine navy and four ships from the US Indo-Pacific command that include an aircraft carrier, a cruiser and two destroyers, according to the Reuters report.

Though it is a routine patrol, it has specific purpose, an expert said. “Everyone knows who is creating trouble in the South China Sea, and who is instigating the Philippines to provoke China constantly,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

“When it comes to sovereignty, we will never back off even a bit. We will use our strength to safeguard our core interests,” Song said.

Ding Duo, deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times that the PLA’s patrol displays China’s determination and will in safeguarding territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea, and that this determination and will are steadily growing along with the growing strength to do so.

The operation announced by the PLA Southern Theater Command can serve as a deterrence against forces that stir up trouble. It is also a necessary act to safeguard peace and stability in the region, Ding said.

It is a pointed operation against a series of infringement and provocative actions by the Philippines and the US in the South China Sea, Ding said, noting that by demonstrating determination, will and capability, the trouble-stirring forces will have a clear understanding of China’s red line and capability, and this will help avoid misjudgments and accidents from happening, Ding said.

The PLA Southern Theater Command’s patrol also comes as the Philippines has been frequently provoking China over Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea, especially near Ren’ai Jiao (also known as Ren’ai Reef), since August.

In the name of resupply, the Philippines has repeatedly sent vessels carrying illegal building materials in attempts to reinforce a warship that has been illegally grounded on Ren’ai Reef since 1999 to permanently occupy the Chinese reef.

Those attempts were blocked by China Coast Guard vessels with legitimate and professional restriction measures.