PLA Southern Theater Command Launches 'Combat Readiness Patrols' at Scarborough Shoal Following USCG Midgett Joint Exercise; Teodoro: Manila Under 'Severe Threat'

China's PLA Southern Theater Command executed 'combat readiness patrols' in the territorial waters and airspace of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island) on June 1, 2026, one day after the Philippines and the United States completed their five-day joint maritime presence operation involving USCG Midgett (WMSL-757) and PCG BRP Melchora Aquino near the feature (May 28–31). China's Coast Guard simultaneously conducted separate 'law enforcement patrols' near the shoal. The PLA stated such patrols 'serve as an effective countermeasure to cope with all sorts of rights violations and provocative acts' — explicitly framing them as a direct response to the USCG–PCG bilateral presence exercise. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, speaking from the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, declared: 'We have no choice but really to be resilient and to stand up against Chinese aggression,' and confirmed that Manila remains under 'severe threat' from China territorially and politically despite recent US–China diplomatic improvements following a Trump–Xi summit in May 2026. The June 1 PLA STC patrols follow the 16+ vessel CCG–militia dual-ring perimeter maintained at Scarborough on May 31 and constitute the most direct Chinese military counter-signal following the USCG–PCG bilateral presence operations at the disputed feature. China's Xiang Yang Hong 33 research vessel entered Day 26 of unauthorized presence near Pag-asa Island on June 1, with Beijing's UNCLOS Article 246 diplomatic silence extending to Day 21 — the longest unanswered Philippine diplomatic instrument under the Marcos administration.