The Philippine military said on Thursday that the joint naval exercises east of the Scarborough Shoal, which are a staging area for clashes with Chinese vessels, were aimed at “coordinated defensive measures” to counteract aerial threats.
The Philippines’ ship Jose Rizal, Australia’s HMAS Brisbane, and Canada’s HMCS Ville de Quot, which sails from a western Philippine province of Palawan, were also present, according to the military. The drills also confirmed “the Philippines’ commitment to advance defense cooperation with like-minded nations.”
In the South China Sea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan both claim the Scarborough Shoal and other islands, islets, and reefs, while Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also have overlapping claims.
Beijing has repeatedly warned that it will defend the shoal and outlying waters, which it claims are its own territory, despite China’s press release stating that it did not immediately make any comment on the drills.
At least three warplanes and at least one heavy-lift military helicopter were captured in video and photos that the Philippine military made available.
Exercise ALON Naval Forces Forge Stronger Cooperation As Maritime Exercises Off Bajo De Masinloc Conclude
A multilateral maritime exercise east of Bajo de Masinloc was successfully completed by the Philippine Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy… twitter.com/l6Pz4ifv1r
More than 3, 600 military personnel participated in 15 days of live-fire drills and manoeuvres that were scheduled to end on Friday, marking the final stages of Australia’s largest military exercises with the Philippines, known as Exercise ALON 2025.
The exercises, according to Australian Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Raven, were “the largest airlift of Australian combat forces since the 1999 East Timor mission,” when Australia was in charge of a multinational peacekeeping force in response to a security and humanitarian crisis, according to the Philippines Daily Inquirer.
According to the Inquirer, this demonstrates that we can deploy a combat-ready and combat-capable force in the Indo-Pacific to support a security partner like the Philippines.
The Scarborough Shoal, one of China’s most dangerous regions, has been closely guarded by its forces, and on August 11 they accidentally collided with a Chinese navy ship and a Chinese coastguard ship as they attempted to block a Philippine coastguard ship close to the shoal.
The first indication that the severely damaged ship made it back to port following the collision, which was captured on camera by the Philippines, was reported by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday.
The vessel is seen alongside a dry dock at the Yulin naval base near Sanya, a city on Hainan, with a crushed bow flanked by tugs, according to satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies to Reuters.
Beijing has accused Philippine vessels of carrying out “dangerous manoeuvres” without making any direct comments about the collision, despite Chinese officials’ refusal to comment on it.
There has never been a formalized system of sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal.
Beijing’s expansive claims to the entire maritime region were rejected by a landmark South China Sea decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, but the court was not given the task of establishing sovereignty over particular features.
The court also ruled that China’s shoal-blocking violated international law, and that it was a major fishing destination for the region.
Source: Aljazeera
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