The coast guards of the United States, Japan and the Philippines will hold a joint naval exercise in waters of the South China Sea, the first of its kind amid concerns over China’s growing regional activities and influence.
The exercise, held in waters off the Philippine province of Bataan, will begin on June 1 and run until June 7.
The exercises come as the United States seeks to step up military diplomacy in the region and conduct more frequent military exercises with its allies and partners in the South China Sea, waters around the Taiwan Strait and waters in the western Pacific.
Likewise, China has increased its military exercises in strategic waters.
China has held military exercises with Laos, Singapore and Cambodia this year, and will send warships to participate in multilateral naval exercises hosted by Indonesia this month.
Armand Barilo, spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard, told reporters in Manila on Monday that the tripartite joint military exercise was initiated by the United States and Japan, and Australia will also join it as an observer country.
He also said four Philippine ships, a U.S. vessel and a Japanese vessel would take part in exercises aimed at improving search-and-rescue cooperation and law enforcement operations.
Japan and the U.S. began approaching the Philippines about holding joint naval exercises in February, the same month the Philippines accused China of activities in the South China Sea, an area China insists on.
“It’s a routine activity among Coast Guard agencies,” Barrillo said. “There’s nothing wrong with having an exercise with your counterparts.”
The United States, Japan and Australia have regularly condemned China’s militarization of the South China Sea and sought closer engagement with the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos succeeded Duterte as Philippine president last year.
The Philippines has expressed displeasure at China’s actions in the strategic waters, with reports that Chinese coast guard ships used “military-grade lasers” to drive away Philippine ships that trespassed on Second Thomas Shoal.
Barilo said the upcoming maritime exercises will include simulated anti-piracy operations and may also involve interception exercises of ships carrying weapons of mass destruction.
China is also trying to deepen its military engagement with its southern neighbor.
In May, China held rare joint military drills with its landlocked neighbor Laos and with Singapore on the southern tip of the South China Sea.
In March this year, China and Cambodia held military exercises in Cambodian waters for the first time.
China’s Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday that it will send the naval ships Zhanjiang and Xuchang equipped with missiles to Indonesia to participate in the “Komodo-2023” multinational maritime joint exercise.
Indonesia has invited 47 countries, including North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States, to take part in the exercise, which will run from June 4-8.
China also plans to hold a joint military exercise code-named “Amana Youyi-2023” with some countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The relationship between China and the United States has been in a tense state. As the world‘s two largest economies, the two countries have frictions and differences in all aspects of issues such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.