Amidst Chinese bullying of its rivals in the strategic South China Sea and aiming to counter Beijing’s continuing violations of international treaty obligations, countries in the region are galvanising their defences.
Two warships from the Philippines and Japan each, for the first time ever, conducted a joint exercise in the contested waters.
This exercise followed a bilateral defence treaty, termed the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), signed between Manila and Tokyo to facilitate joint exercises for closer security cooperation, amid China’s growing assertion in the regional resource-rich waters.
The Philippine Navy’s Jose Rizal frigate on August 2 sailed alongside Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force’s Sazanami destroyer and participated in tactical maneuvering, communication and photographic exercises in areas of the South China Sea that the Philippines claims jurisdiction over, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement.
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