MANILA: Coast Guard vessels of the Philippines and the USA have taken half for the primary time in joint maritime workout routines with naval and air power models within the contested South China Sea, Manila’s armed forces mentioned on Wednesday (Could 21).
The workout routines, held on Tuesday in waters off Palawan and Occidental Mindoro, concerned the Philippine Navy, Air Drive, and Coast Guard, alongside the US Coast Guard Cutter Stratton and a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol plane.
The “maritime cooperative exercise”, which was the second for the yr and sixth general because the allies launched the joint actions in 2023, included communication drills and search-and-rescue eventualities, the navy mentioned in a press release.
“Joint actions just like the MCA reaffirm the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ dedication to modernising its capabilities and strengthening defence partnerships to safe our nationwide and regional maritime pursuits,” AFP Chief Romeo Brawner mentioned.
Relations between the Philippines and China have been strained by disputes over sovereignty within the South China Sea, a conduit for greater than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce.
China claims many of the strategic waterway regardless of a 2016 ruling by a world arbitral tribunal that discovered Beijing’s claims don’t have any foundation beneath worldwide regulation. China doesn’t recognise the choice.
