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China's defense ministry announced Thursday that the country's navy will conduct regular exercises in the Pacific Ocean in the coming days. The announcement came amidst prevailing tensions over maritime disputes between Beijing and several other nations in the region.

"China's People's Liberation Army navy will conduct exercises in the western Pacific ocean at the end of November. China's freedom of navigation and other legal rights should not be obstructed," the ministry said in a brief statement.

"This is a routine drill arranged under an annual plan, does not target any particular country or target, and complies with relevant international laws and international practice," the statement added.

Last week, US President Barrack Obama announced Washington's plans to deploy about 2,500 US Marines in northern Australia, saying: "I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia-Pacific a top priority."

Obama made the announcement during a visit to Australia as part of a week-long tour of the Asia Pacific region. The move is aimed at advancing diplomatic efforts for asserting the United States as a power in the region to balance China's rising influence. Beijing remains wary of the increasingly active role Washington is playing in Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

The developments come amidst tensions in the region over territorial disputes involving China and several other nations. China has been aggressive lately with claims of its rights over almost all of the South China Sea. As a result, it has ongoing problems with Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, all putting up stiff resistance against Chinese claims.

Such claims by China have brought to focus the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which China now seems to be rejecting. Although China claims its unquestionable sovereignty over the South China Seas, the other five nations bordering the South China Sea too have asserted their legal claims to its waters and several islands as per the UNCLOS.

http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=112420110387