The Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) will continue to shadow foreign military vessels and intercept aircraft in the South China Sea, according to comments last week by a senior PLAN official.

On the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army-Navy, told China’s Xinhua news agency that the PLAN “will intercept any intruding aircraft and follow every military vessel in areas under our responsibility.”

The PLAN’s area of responsibility includes most of the South China Sea, which China claims under its ambiguous nine-dash line claim. That claim was found to not comport with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, by a five-judge tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague last year.

http://thediplomat.com/2017/03/chinas-navy-will-intercept-and-follow-military-vessels-and-aircraft/