MANILA
\nJoint naval exercises held frequently by the Philippines, United States and other Western powers are helping rein in \u201caggressive\u201d Chinese actions in the South China Sea, a Filipino military official said Wednesday.
\nBeijing has for years sought to expand its presence in the disputed waterway, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to most of the sea has no legal basis. In recent months, China has deployed navy, coast guard and so-called maritime militia forces \u2014 allegedly Chinese fishing vessels \u2014 in a bid to bar the Philippines from a trio of strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
\nBut those efforts were absent during the 10 instances this year when the Philippines, United States and others were conducting joint patrols dubbed Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA), the Philippine Navy said Wednesday.
\n\u201cDuring the conduct of MMCAs, there have been no observed coercive and aggressive actions by the (People\u2019s Liberation Army) Navy, Coast Guard or the maritime militia,\u201d Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesman for South China Sea issues, told reporters on the sidelines of a Manila security forum.
\nThe lull was observed for \u201ca few days before and during, and a few days after\u201d the exercises, he said, adding more joint naval drills could be expected in 2025. Violent encounters with Chinese vessels typically occur during Philippine resupply missions to its remote garrisons in the area.
\nIn Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stressed \u201cChina has sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters\u201d and \u201cwe safeguard our sovereign rights and interests in accordance with domestic and international law\u201d.
\nShe added: \u201cMaking a show of force and provoking confrontation in the South China Sea will only escalate tensions and undermine regional stability.\u201d While Washington and its allies have avoided taking sides in the territorial dispute, they say Chinese actions threaten freedom of navigation essential for trade, with trillions of dollars passing through the waterway each year.
\nMultilateral and bilateral naval exercises help \u201cbuy time as we continue developing our capabilities\u201d, Trinidad said Wednesday, noting it was a \u201cgreat challenge\u201d given the Philippine military\u2019s limited equipment. He also said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which groups Manila and nine neighbours, was \u201cnot doing enough\u201d to support the Philippines or international law.
\nFellow ASEAN members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam also have claims overlapping Beijing\u2019s in the South China Sea, but others in the bloc have closer ties with China. Trinidad urged ASEAN countries not to \u201csuffer in silence\u201d in the face of Chinese actions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA Joint naval exercises held frequently by the Philippines, United States and other Western powers are helping rein in \u201caggressive\u201d Chinese actions in the South China Sea, a Filipino military official said Wednesday. Beijing has for years sought to expand its presence in the disputed waterway, brushing aside an international ruling that its claim to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-442065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n