YUICHI SHIGA, Nikkei staff writerOctober 3, 2023 00:39 JST
MANILA — The Philippines and the U.S. kicked off a two-week joint naval exercise on Monday, part of efforts to bolster international cooperation amid Beijing’s increasingly assertive activity in the South China Sea.
Named "Samasama," which means "together" in Tagalog, the exercise aims primarily to strengthen the Philippines’ naval capabilities. The drills will be conducted in and around the northern Philippine island of Luzon, and will last until Oct. 13.
"Addressing various dimensions of modern naval operations, from anti-submarine warfare, to electronic warfare, this exercise enhances our readiness to confront a wide spectrum of security challenges," Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr. said at an opening ceremony Monday.
The rules-based international order was "being ripped at and tugged at and tested to benefit not all nations, but one nation," Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, said in a thinly veiled reference to China’s maritime expansion in the region.
The Philippine Navy said that Samasama aimed "to further strengthen international defense cooperation and advance a rules-based international order."
As part of the exercise, the Philippine and U.S. navies are conducting interoperability drills with forces from Japan, the U.K., Canada, France and Australia.
The New Zealand and Indonesian navies are also taking part as observers.
The push for greater multilateral cooperation comes amid growing maritime tensions between Manila and Beijing.
The China Coast Guard in late September set up a roughly 300-meter floating barrier at the Scarborough Shoal, an atoll that Manila claims but is under Beijing’s effective control.
The Philippines condemned the blockade as an impediment to its fishing fleet and a violation of international law. Its coast guard dismantled the barrier on Sept. 25 under orders from Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Marcos said Friday the barrier was placed "clearly inside" Philippine territory. "We are not looking for trouble. We will continue to defend the Philippines — the maritime territory of the Philippines," he said.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said last week that "China will continue to safeguard our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests" over Scarborough Shoal, which Beijing calls Huangyan Island.
Elsewhere in the South China Sea, The Philippine Coast Guard on Sept. 18 said Chinese militia ships may be destroying coral reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands.
In August, Chinese vessels fired a water cannon at a Philippine resupply vessel. Beijing published a new map later that month claiming large swaths of the South China Sea as its own.
Recent weeks have seen the Philippines increase outreach to Western governments. Marcos met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sept. 8, affirming stronger defense cooperation between the countries. Marcos and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in the South China Sea over the phone on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Ella Hermonio in Manila.