China deployed two long-range H-6 bombers around the Scarborough Shoal this week, in Beijing's latest move to assert sovereignty over the hotly disputed atoll in the South China Sea, satellite images showed.
The deployment, which was not publicized by China, came ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's visit to the Philippines, which also claims the shoal that lies within its exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.
China's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to questions on the scale of the deployment or whether it was timed to coincide with Hegseth's trip.
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