Aboard the BRP José Rizal, Mar del Sur of China – The United States, Japan and the Philippines organized the joint naval exercises to increase the preparation of the crisis Saquel disputed South China Shoal Like a Chinese military ship he kept the clock from a distance.
The Chinese frigate tried Scarborough Shoal In a disturbing moment, but was warned by a Filipina Radio frigate and remained away.
“There was a time when they tried to maneuver closer, but, again, we challenged them,” said the commander of the Philippine Navy, Irvin Ian Robles, to journalists aboard the frigate BRP José Rizal.
The latest naval exercises, called the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative ActivityThey opened for the first time to a small group of media based in Manila, including a photojournalist of Associated Press, since such high quality maneuvers and joint naval candles began last year.
During the one -day maneuvers, the Jose Rizal BRP, a missile destroyer guided by the US Navy. The helicopters of the United States and the Philippines flew. A small group of American sailors of the DDG Shoup used a quick boat to transfer to the BRP José Rizal and maintain discussions with Filipino counterparts.
“We are here to support our allies and support a free and open Indo-Pacific for all,” AP told AP.
Such naval exercises result in “the vital improvements in our coordination, tactics and shared maritime consciousness,” said the Chief of Cabinet of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Romeo Brawnner Jr.
“Each iteration strengthens our ability to respond to maritime security challenges while reinforcing our collective capacity to safeguard our national interests,” Brawnner said.
China claims practically everything South China Sea. An international arbitration failure of 2016 invalidated those statements, but Beijing refused to participate in arbitration, rejected the result And he continues to challenge him.
Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in territorial disputes, but confrontations between Chinese Coast Guard and Philippines And the naval forces have triggered particularly in the last two years.
He United States, Japan and Philippines They have been strengthening a security alliance and pressure efforts to reinforce deterrence against the growing assertiveness of China in the Southern China Sea, a key global commercial route.
The trilateral security block arose during the previous Biden administration.
Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, who visited Manila on Friday For conversations with his Philipino counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that such security blocks should be strengthened to increase deterrence against Chinese aggression in the disputed sea.
After the Philippines, Hegseth would travel with Japan, another staunch ally of the United States Treaty.
“The three countries navigate together at this time in the region … sending those cooperation signals,” Hegseth said. “The wider our alliance, the better. The more security cooperation, the better …, the more strategic dilemmas for our adversaries, the better.”
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Associated Press Jim Gómez journalist contributed to this report.
