Rumors Of War: US-Led Naval Drills Prompt Heightened Tensions in South China Sea

US-Led Naval Drills Prompt Heightened Tensions in South China Sea

Sputnik

In a historic first, the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia have conducted joint naval drills in the disputed South China Sea, citing China's growing assertiveness in the region and further escalating tensions with Beijing.

Joint naval exercises by the US, Japan, the Philippines and Australia on Sunday prompted China's military to respond with its own increased naval and air patrols in the South China Sea on Sunday.

The command noted that the military activities “intended to sabotage the situation” and create “hotspots” in the waters were “well under control”.

The US, the Philippines, Japan and Australia had announced on Saturday that they would conduct a “maritime cooperative activity” on Sunday within what they referred to as the “Philippine exclusive economic zone”. This is the first in a series of such activities involving naval and air forces in waters claimed by both China and the Philippines.

Japan deployed its destroyer, the JS Akebono, which included anti-submarine warfare training. Philippine warships, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz, joined the American USS Mobile and the Australian HMAS Warramunga, according to the Japanese Embassy in Manila.

The purpose of the drills, according to a joint statement by the four allies, is to "uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight." US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his three counterparts reiterated that their countries view the 2016 international arbitration ruling against China as "a final and legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute."

The ruling, issued by a tribunal in The Hague, found that China's so-called "nine-dash line" is invalid under international law. Dating back to the late 1940s, China has claimed that its "nine-dash line" demarcation gives it control over about 90% of the resource-rich South China Sea. However, there are overlapping claims by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Chinese officials have refused to accept the 2016 ruling, saying it has no jurisdiction over the issue.

The White House has announced that it will host the first ever US-Philippines-Japan summit in April. Security issues over the South China Sea are expected to top the triad’s agenda. Since taking office, Biden has declared his chief policy aim to be that of confronting the growing power and influence of China by building coalitions against it. Among his provocative moves: Invited NATO members and their warships into Asian waters for joint operations with regional navies to project the power and influence of America’s European allies in the region.

Spearheaded AUKUS, a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK, and the US, whose first initiative was to supply nuclear-powered submarines to “deter China from invading Taiwan.” Pushed through an updated defense pact with the Philippines to grant the US military more bases in the archipelago.

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