UPDATE 1-Vietnam, Philippines denounce China military drills in disputed waters

* Exercises "sound the alarm bells" - Philippine minister
* Vietnam says could impact China-ASEAN ties
* Exercises in contested area provocative - Philippines

(Recasts with Philippine response)
By Phuong Nguyen and Neil Jerome Morales
HANOI/MANILA, July 2 (Reuters) - Vietnam and the Philippines
on Thursday criticised China's holding of military drills in a
disputed part of the South China, warning it could create
tension in the region and impact Beijing's relationship with its
neighbours.
Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said China's
exercises in the waters near the Paracel Islands were "highly
provocative", while Vietnam's Foreign Ministry called them a
violation of sovereignty that could be "detrimental" to
Beijing's relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).
China scheduled five days of drills from Wednesday near the
Paracels according to a June 27 announcement by the Hainan's
Maritime Safety Administration. Vietnam has overlapping claims
with China over the Paracels.
Vietnam and the Philippines have been the most vocal
regional opponents to what they see as Chinese overreach in the
South China Sea and its disregard for boundaries outlined in
international maritime law.
China claims historical jurisdiction over about 80% of the
sea.
Hanoi and Manila warned of growing insecurity in Southeast
Asia at an ASEAN summit last Friday, amid concern, including
from the United States, that China was using the cover of the
coronavirus pandemic to step up naval activities and advance its
territorial claims. Even though the Philippines has no claim to the Paracels,
Lorenzana said China holding exercises beyond its own waters was
not acceptable.
"That is very concerning, we view that with alarm," he told
a security forum.
"Doing it in the contested areas then that will, you know,
sound the alarm bells for all the claimants," he said.
"That's highly provocative," he added.
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to China
to oppose exercises that "seriously violate Vietnam's
sovereignty", spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular
briefing.
The drills "further complicate the situation, and are
detrimental to the relationship between China and ASEAN", she
said.
Vietnam said in April that one of its fishing boats was sunk
by a Chinese maritime surveillance vessel. China called
Vietnam's maritime claims illegal and "doomed to fail".
(Additonal reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing;
Writing by James Pearson and Martin Petty;
Editing by Alison Williams)