India, Feb. 1 -- Beijing [China], February 1 (ANI) China has conducted "combat readiness" patrols in the maritime and aerial areas around Huangyan Dao, which the Chinese call the Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed South China Sea, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

The development comes on the heels of a joint US-Philippine drill in the area.

China's People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command said in a statement that since the beginning of January, it has organised naval and air forces to step up patrols in the waters and airspace surrounding the territorial waters of Huangyan Dao, and resolutely countered "infringement and provocative actions by individual countries in the region", Xinhua reported.

"The move is aimed at ...