The vessel was heavily damaged in the incident, while Filipino servicemen aboard were injured.
Since last year,
the Philippines has held separate “maritime cooperative activities” with the United States and
Australia, which have agreements for visiting forces.
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Chinese floating barrier blocks entrance to Philippine ships at South China Sea flashpoint
Chinese floating barrier blocks entrance to Philippine ships at South China Sea flashpoint
The Royal Australian Navy’s frigate Warramunga arrived in Palawan for a port call ahead of the joint exercise, with Commander Jennifer Graham paying a courtesy call on the Philippine military commander in the area, a Philippine source said.
The Warramunga, an Australian aircraft, a Japanese destroyer, and several naval assets from the United States and the Philippines are taking part in the drill, another source said. The exercise will be conducted outside Philippine territorial waters but within its exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines has expressed its intention to hold a joint exercise with the three countries several times a year, the source added.
Philippine President
Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on March 28 that he has been in constant communication with his country’s allies and that his government is preparing a “response and countermeasure package that is proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable” to the dangerous attacks by the China Coast Guard and its militia vessels in the South China Sea.
Marcos is set to meet with US President
Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida in Washington on April 11. Marcos has said that he and the leaders are expected to forge an agreement that will add more structure to the three countries’ interoperability and joint cruises.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, even though the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated its sweeping claims in a 2016 ruling. The Philippines, Brunei,
Malaysia,
Vietnam and
Taiwan also claim parts of the resource-rich international waterway.