AFP brushes off China warning
China said its troops ‘maintained a high degree of vigilance to resolutely defend national sovereignty’ amid the joint Philippine-United States military exercises
The Armed Forces of the Philippines yesterday addressed what some geopolitical experts described as China’s growing paranoia by reiterating that its military exercises with the United States were perfectly legal and were not directed at any country.
Amid Beijing repeating its line that the Philippines was “stirring up trouble” in the West Philippine Sea with the joint patrols and by “openly hyping” them, the AFP said it would continue engaging allied countries in such activities.
The Philippine Air Force concluded on Monday joint activities with the US Air Force in the WPS, which overlaps the South China Sea that is claimed nearly in its entirety by China.
A 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling based in The Hague affirmed the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone in the WPS while declaring that China’s SCS claim was without basis.
A Chinese official has warned that in response to the Philippine-US military exercises, the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army has organized frontline naval and air forces to closely monitor the two nations’ activities.
China said its troops “maintained a high degree of vigilance to resolutely defend national sovereignty.”
Three PAF FA-50s fighter jets and a US B-52H bomber aircraft flew out of Ilocos Sur and over the Mindoro Strait that connects the Philippines’ Sulu Sea with the South China Sea.
AFP Public Affairs chief, Col. Xerxes Trinidad, said the joint air patrol was part of the third iteration of the Maritime Cooperative Activity, or MCA, between the AFP and the US Indo-Pacific Command.
“This is to enhance both armed forces’ interoperability and the capabilities of our air force performing its mandate of protecting our territory, sovereign rights, and national interests in the WPS,” Trinidad told reporters on Tuesday.
He stressed that there was no violation in the execution of the MCA as it was conducted in the Philippines’ EEZ.
“We expect more MCAs in the future with our ally and other like-minded nations to keep a peaceful and secured Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
“The MCA is in no way directed towards any country, and the activity is in accordance with the international rulesbased order, as we were operating within our territory,” said Col. Consuelo Castillo, PAF spokesperson.