The Philippine, US and Japanese militaries conducted joint exercises this week over the Bashi Channel that separates the Philippines from Taiwan, officials said yesterday.
Aircraft from the three nations patrolled over the Philippines’ northernmost Batanes in drills aimed at showcasing their “ability to operate seamlessly together in complex maritime environments,” the Philippine military said.
It marks the first time that so-called “Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activities” (MMCAs) involving the countries have expanded beyond the South China Sea, where the Philippines and China have engaged in repeated clashes over disputed territory.
Photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Public Affairs Office / AFP
Little more than 100km separates the Philippines and Taiwan.
“Air operations were conducted within airspace over Philippine territory and its territorial sea, north of Luzon,” the Philippine military said, adding that naval vessels had stayed west of the Batanes island chain.
Philippine Armed Forces public affairs chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad said it was the “first time” MMCA operations had been conducted in the “said operational box.”
That box extended “up to the northern tip of Luzon, particularly Mavulis Island,” which hosts small Philippine navy and marine detachments, the Philippine military said.
China’s military reacted angrily to the drills.
“The Philippines co-opted countries outside the region to organize the so-called joint patrols, disrupting peace and stability in the region,” a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command spokesperson said, adding that China had conducted a “routine patrol” of the South China Sea from Monday to Thursday.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November last year sent relations with Beijing into a tailspin by suggesting that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
The Japanese minister of defense upped the ante on Tuesday by saying that Tokyo planned to deploy surface-to-air missiles on one of its remote western islands near Taiwan by early 2031.
In August last year, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr warned that the Philippines would be dragged “kicking and screaming” into any war over Taiwan.
“I hope it doesn’t happen ... but if it does, we have to plan for it already,” he said, citing the large numbers of Filipinos working in Taiwan.
The Philippine-US-Japanese exercise took place over six days and concluded on Thursday. It included a live-fire gunnery exercise conducted by the guided missile frigate, BRP Antonio Luna.
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