Australia, Canada and the Philippines on Wednesday deployed three warships and aircraft for drills against simulated aerial threats off a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese forces have used risky maneuvers to try to drive away Manila’s aircraft and ships.
The Philippine military said the naval drills east of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) were concluded safely, and it did not mention any encounter with China’s coast guard, navy or suspected militia ships, which have been closely guarding the uninhabited fishing atoll off northwestern Philippines for years.
Chinese officials did not immediately issue any comment on the naval drills, but they have repeatedly warned that they would defend the shoal and outlying waters, which they claim as Beijing’s territory, at all cost.
Photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP
Taiwan, China and the Philippines claim Scarborough and other islands, islets and reefs in the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the busy waterway, a key global trade route.
Two US warships sailed off the shoal this month to promote freedom of navigation and were shadowed by a Chinese navy ship.
Sailing from a western Philippine province, the Royal Australian Navy guided-missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane, the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec and the Philippine Navy guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal conducted exercises east of the shoal, including the “air defense exercise that honed the participants’ capability to counter simulated aerial threats through coordinated defensive maneuvers,” the Philippine military said in a brief statement.
Video footage and photographs issued by the Philippine military showed at least three fighter jets soaring in the sky during the drills, while two combat helicopters separately flew near the Philippine Navy frigate.
“This engagement reaffirms the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ commitment to advancing defense cooperation with like-minded nations,” the statement said.
The drills were among the final activities of the largest military exercises Australia has staged with the Philippines that involved more than 3,600 military personnel for 15 days of live-fire and battle maneuvers that ends today.
Canada and several security partners sent military forces as observers.
One of Asia’s most sensitive flash points, the Scarborough Shoal has been closely guarded by China’s forces, which suffered a setback on Aug. 11 when a Chinese navy ship collided with a China Coast Guard vessel while trying to block a Philippine Coast Guard ship near the shoal.
The Chinese coast guard ship’s bow was severely damaged by the high-velocity crash, which Philippine military officials said might have killed at least two Chinese personnel based on video footage.
Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the ship with a crushed bow flanked by tugs alongside a dry dock at Yulin Naval Base near Sanya on China’s Hainan Island — the first confirmation that the vessel made it back to port.
Maxar and other analysts said they were confident it was the same vessel, CG3104, involved in the collision.
Chinese officials have never commented on the collision, and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not immediately respond to questions about the fate of the ship, whether there were any casualties or whether it got to Hainan under its own power.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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