TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) 鈥 A flurry of naval drills surrounding the Philippines involving the United States and its partners has prompted complaints from Beijing, which claims the entire South China Sea and accuses Manila of colluding with others to destabilize the region.
The U.S. 7th Fleet based in Japan said forces from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S. conducted a 鈥渕ultilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity鈥 within the Philippines鈥 Exclusive Economic Zone on Wednesday.
Such drills 鈥渟trengthen the interoperability of our defense/armed forces doctrines, tactics, techniques, and procedures," the fleet said in a news release. The maneuvers were taking place within the Philippines鈥 zone, but the fleet gave no details on the exact location.
More exercises involving the U.S., Japan and France were planned for later this week in the Philippines Sea, which China does not claim.
That exercise 鈥渋s designed to advance coordination and cooperation between French, Japanese and U.S. maritime forces while simultaneously demonstrating capabilities in multi-domain operations,鈥 the fleet said.
The U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, French carrier Charles De Gaulle and Japan's Izumo-class multi-functional destroyer Kaga will take part in the drill starting Saturday, along with their escorts and air wings, the fleet said.
France's participation is especially significant because of the distance from its home base, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away in Toulouse, commander of the Carrier Strike Group Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Tian Junli, spokesperson for China's Southern Theater Command, accused the Philippines of 鈥渃olluding with outside countries to organize 鈥榮o-called joint patrols鈥, " which he said 鈥漝estabilize the region," Chinese state media said on Thursday.
Tian said the Philippines actions were 鈥渁n attempt to endorse its 鈥榠llegal claims鈥 in the South China Sea and 鈥漸ndermine China鈥檚 maritime rights and interests." He specifically pointed to U.S.-Philippines joint patrols on Tuesday and said China had carried out its own patrols in the region on Wednesday.
China is one of six regional powers that claims the strategic South China Sea in part or in whole, ignoring a ruling by a United Nations-backed court that tossed out most of its claims and building human-made islands equipped with airstrips and other infrastructure of military use. China's coast guard and maritime militia frequently clash with ships from fellow claimants Vietnam and the Philippines.
Though it claims not to disrupt shipping or overflights in the sea, through which an estimated $5 trillion in global trade transits each year, China is adamantly opposed to foreign military shipping in the area.
The waterway is also believed to be sitting atop vast undersea deposits of oil and gas and while China says it wants to come to a negotiated agreement about the use of the sea, such efforts have made little progress.
China says the U.S. and other countries that don't border on the sea should have no say in affairs concerning it, although the U.S. 鈥 which takes no formal stand on sovereignty issues involving the sea 鈥 has maintained bases and alliances in the region long before China made its formal claim to sovereignty using the so-called 鈥渆ight dash line.鈥
Beijing is especially angered over U.S. 鈥渇reedom of navigation operations鈥 in which Navy ships sail close to Chinese-held maritime features to show Washington does not recognize China's sovereignty claims.
