Australian and Philippine forces, backed by US marines, yesterday practiced retaking an island seized by hostile forces in a large military drill on the northwestern Philippine coast facing the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and visiting Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles watched the mock beach landings, assaults and helicopter insertion of forces on a Philippine naval base with 1,200 Australian soldiers, 560 Philippine soldiers and 120 US marines participating.
The Philippine military said that China was not an imaginary target of the combat drills, which were the largest so far between Australia and the Philippines.
Photo: AFP
“It’s is an important aspect of how we prepare for any eventuality and considering that there have been so many events that attest to the volatility of the region,” Marcos said in a news conference after the combat drills.
Marles said in a separate news conference with Philippine Minister of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr, that the military drills were aimed at promoting the rule of law and peace in the region.
“The message that we want to convey to the region and to the world from an exercise of this kind is that we are two countries committed to the global rules-based order,” Marles said.
“Peace is maintained through the protection of the global rules-based order and its functionality around the world and, in truth, around the world today, we see it under pressure,” he added.
After meeting on the sidelines of the combat drills, Marles and Teodoro said in a joint statement that they would pursue plans for joint patrols in the South China Sea.
“We committed to expanding some of our bilateral activities in the future to include other countries committed to sustaining peace and security in our region,” the two said.
They reaffirmed support for a 2016 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in The Hague under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea that largely invalidated China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ control over resources in a 200 nautical mile (370.4km) exclusive economic zone.
China refused to participate in the arbitration and continues to defy the ruling.
Taiwan also has claims in the waterway.
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