China on Friday said the US and Australia were “flexing their muscles” with recent naval drills in the South China Sea (SCS), underscoring Beijing’s sensitivity over the strategic waterway it claims as its own. The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur and the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Ballarat concluded a week of joint operations in the SCS. Those included maneuvering drills along with resupplying vessels, cross-deck helicopter operations and live-fire gunnery exercises.

China slams US-Australian navy drills in SCS as 'muscle flexing'. (2021, June 12). Business Mirror, p. A4.