The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said on Friday that it has organized combat-readiness patrols in the territorial waters and airspace of China's Huangyan Island and adjacent areas in the South China Sea.

According to a statement by the theater command, since October, it has deployed naval and air forces to intensify combat-readiness patrols in those regions and airspace.

The operations have strengthened management and control of the relevant sea and airspace and effectively countered various infringements and provocations, it said.

These actions have "firmly safeguarded national sovereignty and security and upheld peace and stability in the South China Sea," it added.