China Deploys Fighter Jets at Disputed Island in South China Sea, as US Allies Conduct Naval Exercises

A U.S. V-22 Osprey takes off from the USS Wasp, U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship, during the amphibious landing exercises as part of the annual joint U.S.-Philippines military exercise on the shores of San Antonio town, facing the South China Sea, Zambales Province, on April 11, 2019. Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

Satellite images recently revealed that China has deployed at least four of its J-10 mainstay fighter jets on the contested territory of Woody Island in the South China Sea.

Around the same time, warships from the United States, Japan, Vietnam, India, and the Philippines performed naval drills separately or jointly in the same waters, valued for fisheries and energy reserves.