Earlier this month, China declared new "baselines" around Scarborough Reef, a large coral atoll topped by a handful of rocks barely above sea level in the South China Sea.

China’s military deployed naval and air forces to conduct patrols around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea on Thursday, the military’s Southern Theater Command said in a statement. The military has deployed forces to enhance patrols in the sea and airspace around the “territorial waters” of Scarborough Shoal since the beginning of November,