BEIJING — China conducted military exercises involving naval and aerial operations on Wednesday at the contentious Scarborough Shoal, an area also claimed by the Philippines, located in the South China Sea.

This past Sunday, China issued new baseline data for the shoal, detailing specific geographic coordinates. The definition of a nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone typically relies on the distance from these baselines.

According to the People’s Liberation Army’s southern command, this operation was described as a “patrol and guard activity” in line with legal protocols.

China took control of the shoal, situated to the west of Luzon, the Philippines’ largest island, in 2012. Since that time, access to the area has been considerably restricted for Filipino fishermen. An international arbitration court ruled in 2016 that a majority of China’s claims in the South China Sea lacked validity, a decision that Beijing has consistently rejected.

Rising tensions between China and the Philippines have emerged over their conflicting claims to the Scarborough Shoal and other maritime features in the region, resulting in direct confrontations, such as the Chinese coast guard using water cannons against Filipino vessels.

Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. enacted two new laws reaffirming the country’s maritime boundaries and its rights to resources within these waters, notably in the South China Sea. This legislative action has incited discontent from Beijing.

China’s assertion of rights to almost the entire expanse of the South China Sea intersects with claims from several other nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, leading to heightened regional tensions.