AFP on China military drills: No big deal

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday downplayed the live-fire military drills conducted by China in the disputed South China Sea, saying it is their right to conduct such exercises.

And while calling on China to be transparent, AFP spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the AFP does not see the Chinese military exercises as a threat, especially since it appears to have been held in international waters.

Chinese state media on Tuesday reported that exercise involved more than 100 naval vessels, dozens of aircrafts, several missile launch battalions of the Second Artillery Corps, as well as unknown number of information warfare troops.

Dozens of missiles and torpedoes and thousands of shells and jamming bombs were also fired during the exercise, according to an article posted on China's Ministry of Defense website.

Without mentioning where the exercise took place, the Xinhua report said that the drill tested the Chinese navy's air defense and early warning system and improved its ability to react quickly.

Padilla, when sought for the AFP's reaction on the report, stressed "it is the right of any sovereign nation to conduct any kind of exercises that they think are relevant to their own security interest."

He added that it is natural for the Chinese naval drills to be seen as muscle flexing, saying that "any kind of military exercise is always subject to the interpretation of an outsider."

"So an outsider who is bias against that country can initiate negative comments, but from our perspective that being their right, they can do that so long as they do not violate any code of conduct or intrude into other country’s territory," according to the AFP spokesman.

Padilla further said that is also why the AFP have been "very transparent" and even invites international observers to their own exercises to show that "what we are doing is aboveboard and that we are not threatening anyone."