Philippines and US test air defences as China seizes reef

Missiles fired off the coast of the northern Philippines on Sunday as US and Filipino forces conducted their first integrated defence drills, hours after China said it had seized control of a reef claimed by Manila.

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The Philippines and China have been engaged in months of confrontations over the South China Sea, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

As many as 17,000 personnel are participating in the annual "Balikatan" exercises, which this year will simulate a "full-scale battle scenario" as the treaty allies seek to deter China's ambitions in the disputed waterway. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday reported that the country's coast guard had "implemented maritime control" over Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay, this month.