Philippines, Australia start sea, air patrols in South China Sea

The Philippines and Australia began their first joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea on Saturday, days after Manila took similar steps with the US as Pacific nations warily eye an increasingly assertive China. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis. The Philippines is ramping up efforts to counter what it describes as China's "aggressive activities" in the South China Sea, which has also become a flashpoint for Chinese and US tensions around naval operations. The Philippines and the United States concluded three-day joint sea and air patrols on Thursday, starting in waters near Taiwan, a democratically governed island that China claims as its own, and ending in the West Philippine Sea.