China and Russia will hold "routine" naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country. The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in the Hague ruled this month that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there. The Permanent Court of Arbitration also found that China violated the Philippines' rights to fish and explore for resources in waters within its 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

China, Russia navies to hold war games in South China Sea. (2016, July 29). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A22.