Manila:

The United States, Australia, Japan and the Philippines will hold joint naval and air exercises in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday to deepen ties to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region, the defense ministers of the United States, Australia, Japan and the Philippines said in a statement. of confidence.

The drills will take place in the disputed waterway that Beijing almost entirely owns, just days before U.S. President Joe Biden holds his first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan.

“Our joint defense/armed forces will conduct maritime cooperation activities within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone on April 7, 2024,” they said in a joint statement on Saturday.

They said it would demonstrate the allies’ “collective commitment to strengthening regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The exercise, called Maritime Cooperation Activity, will include naval and air forces from four countries, the joint statement said.

The four defense secretaries said they would “enhance the interoperability of our…doctrines, tactics, techniques and procedures.”

No details about the specific content of the exercise have been disclosed.

The Japanese embassy in Manila said in a statement that the exercises would include “anti-submarine warfare training.”

Earlier this week, the Australian warship Waramunga arrived on the Philippine island of Palawan, which faces fiercely disputed waters.

The drills and summit come after repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent months near disputed coral reefs off the Southeast Asian country.

China accuses the Philippines of exacerbating tensions in the hotly contested waterway, where Beijing and Manila have a longstanding maritime territorial dispute.

“Peace and stability”

Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly declared that the United States is “ironclad” in its commitment to defending the Philippines from armed attacks in the South China Sea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a joint statement: “These activities with our allies Australia, Japan and the Philippines underscore our shared commitment to ensuring that all nations can fly, navigate and operate freely wherever international law allows. action.”

“Together our actions support the peace and stability that are at the heart of our shared vision for a free and open region.”

Marcos issued a strongly worded statement on March 28, vowing that the Philippines would not be “frightened into silence, submission or submission” by China.

Negotiations between the Philippines and Japan on a defense agreement that would allow the two countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory are “still ongoing,” a spokesman for the Philippines’ foreign ministry said.

Manila has reached similar agreements with Australia and the United States.

Kishida said in an interview with Nikkei on Thursday that Japan needs to show greater influence and “take on greater responsibility” to provide options for the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

He also said Tokyo, Washington and Manila “will work together to advance trilateral cooperation projects” including semiconductors, digital technology and next-generation nuclear energy.

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