The United States has joined the Philippines and several other allies in the latest series of naval drills hosted by the Southeast Asian nation amid tensions with China.
Exercise “Sama Sama”, a Tagalog word meaning “together,” got underway Monday, bringing together elements of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet and the navies of the Philippines, Japan, France, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom in waters off the Philippine island of Luzon.
The nine days of training come as Chinese maritime forces continue to assert territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing has called its doorstep, including in the Philippines’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. The U.S. ally reported a record 251 Chinese ships operating within the zone at one time last month.
Speaking at the Luzon port of Subic, Rear Admiral Todd Cimicata, commander of the Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 73, told the press the drills aim to strengthen a “deterring effect” but are not aimed at any single country.
Officers pose on October 7 as the Philippines, the U.S., France, U.K., Japan, Canada, and Australia begin the eighth Sama Sama military exercise. The training aims to boost naval cooperation with an eye toward “people that don’t follow those rules,” a participating U.S. Navy official said.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
“The intent of these exercises is not to ruffle feathers. It’s tailored for interoperability,” Reuters quoted Cimicata as saying. “Across the gamut, there are people that don’t follow those rules so we have to agree so that we can set those standards.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
Cimicata observed that Sama Sama, now in its eighth iteration, has expanded from a U.S.-Philippine exercise into a multilateral, multiplatform event between “like-minded partners from across the Indo-Pacific.”
“This development highlights the strength of our alliances and our shared commitment to peace, security, and cooperation in the maritime domain and it’s never been more important,” he was quoted as saying in an Indo-Pacific Command statement.
The nine days of training will involve a total of nearly 1,000 military personnel. Taking part in the drills will be the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer the USS Howard, the Canadian Halifax-class frigate the HMCS Vancouver, three Philippine Navy vessels, and various aircraft from the U.S and Canadian navies and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Luzon faces Beijing-claimed Taiwan and is home to five of the nine military bases accessible by American forces under the U.S.-Philippine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Luzon currently hosts a U.S. Army mid-range missile launcher capable of reaching China’s eastern seaboard. Beijing has demanded the platform be removed immediately, while Manila has said it is being used for training and will remain until the two allies decide otherwise.
In the latest flare-up in the neighbors’ territorial dispute, Manila reported on Tuesday that Chinese naval and coast guard vessels had attempted to derail a Philippine Fisheries Bureau mission to supply fishermen at the contested South China Sea feature, Scarborough Shoal.
Video released that day by ABS-CBN News showed one of the Chinese Coast Guard ships using its water cannon in an attempt to deter one of the Bureau’s ships. China’s Coast Guard said its actions had been “professional, standard, legitimate, and lawful.”
