PLA Southern Theater Command Patrols South China Sea After 5-Day US-Philippines-Japan Drills
Updated
Updated · Global Times · Jul 26
PLA Southern Theater Command Patrols South China Sea After 5-Day US-Philippines-Japan Drills
3 articles · Updated · Global Times · Jul 26
Summary
July 26 patrols by PLA Southern Theater Command naval and air units followed the end of a five-day US-Philippines-Japan maritime exercise, with Beijing accusing Manila of pulling in outside powers and disrupting regional stability.
The 17th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity ran from July 21 to 25 and included the USS Santa Barbara, Japan's destroyer JS Yuudachi, Philippine warships and coast guard vessels, plus helicopter, patrol-aircraft and replenishment drills.
US military activity was already elevated: the George Washington carrier strike group entered the South China Sea after transiting the Luzon Strait, and the US Embassy in Manila said the carrier's F-35 capabilities support freedom of navigation.
Chinese analysts said repeated trilateral exercises since the start of the year risk normalizing a larger US military footprint in the Philippines, worsening China-Philippines ties and making the South China Sea more volatile.