US, Japan, Philippines stage naval drills in disputed South China Sea

ABOARD BRP JOSE RIZAL, South China Sea — The United States, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.

The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal in an unsettling moment, but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away.

“There was a time when they attempted to maneuver closer but, again, we challenged them,” Philippine Navy Cmdr. Irvin Ian Robles told reporters on board the frigate BRP Jose Rizal.

The latest naval drills, called the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity , were opened for the first time to a small group of Manila-based media, including an Associated Press photojournalist, since such high-seas maneuvers and joint naval sails began last year.

During the daylong maneuvers, the BRP Jose Rizal, U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer Shoup and Japanese multimission frigate JS Noshiro sailed in formation and communicated by radio. U.S. and Philippine helicopters flew around. A small group of American sailors from the DDG Shoup used a speedboat to transfer to the BRP Jose Rizal and hold discussions with Filipino counterparts.

“We are here to support our allies and support a free and open Indo-Pacific for everyone,” U.S. Navy Lt. Alexander Horvath told the AP.

Such naval drills result in “the vital improvements in our coordination, tactics and shared maritime awareness,” Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a statement.

“Every iteration strengthens our capacity to respond to maritime security challenges while reinforcing our collective ability to safeguard our national interests,” Brawner said.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea. A 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidated those claims, but Beijing refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected the outcome and continues to defy it.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-seething territorial disputes but confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces have particularly spiked in the last two years.

The United States, Japan and the Philippines have been strengthening a security alliance and pressing efforts to bolster deterrence against China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, a key global trade route.

The trilateral security bloc emerged during the previous Biden administration.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who visited Manila on Friday for talks with his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said such security blocs should be strengthened to boost deterrence against Chinese aggression in the disputed sea.

After the Philippines, Hegseth would travel next to Japan, another staunch U.S. treaty ally.

“All three countries are sailing together right now in the region … sending those signals of cooperation,” Hegseth said. “The broader our alliance, the better. The more security cooperation, the better … the more strategic dilemmas for our adversaries, the better.”

Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez contributed to this report.

在“何塞·黎刹”号军舰上，南海——周五，美国、日本和菲律宾在南海争议岛礁附近举行联合海军演习，以提高危机应对能力，一艘中国军舰则在远处监视。

在局势动荡之际，中国护卫舰试图靠近黄岩岛附近海域，当时三个盟国的军舰和飞机正在那里进行演习，但菲律宾护卫舰通过无线电发出警告，阻止了它靠近。

“他们一度试图靠近，但我们再次向他们发起了挑战，”菲律宾海军指挥官欧文·伊恩·罗布尔斯在护卫舰“何塞·黎刹”号上告诉记者。

最新一轮海上联合演习被称为“多边海上合作活动”，这是自去年此类公海演习和联合海军航行开始以来，首次向一小群驻马尼拉的媒体开放，其中包括一名美联社摄影记者。

在为期一天的演习中，菲律宾海军“何塞·黎刹”号护卫舰、美国海军导弹驱逐舰“舒普”号和日本多用途护卫舰“能代”号组成编队航行，并通过无线电进行通信。美菲两国的直升机在空中盘旋。一小队来自“舒普”号导弹驱逐舰的美国水兵乘坐快艇前往“何塞·黎刹”号，与菲律宾同行举行了会谈。

“我们来到这里是为了支持我们的盟友，支持一个自由开放的印太地区，造福所有人，”美国海军中尉亚历山大·霍瓦特告诉美联社。

菲律宾武装部队总参谋长罗密欧·布劳纳将军在一份声明中表示，此类海军演习将“显著提高我们在协调、战术和共享海上意识方面的水平”。

布劳纳表示：“每一次迭代都增强了我们应对海上安全挑战的能力，同时加强了我们维护国家利益的集体能力。”

中国声称对几乎整个南海拥有主权。2016年的一项国际仲裁裁决否定了这些主张，但北京拒绝参与仲裁，拒绝接受裁决结果，并继续藐视仲裁结果。

菲律宾、越南、马来西亚、文莱和台湾也卷入了长期存在的领土争端，但中国和菲律宾海警及海军之间的对抗在过去两年里尤其加剧。

美国、日本和菲律宾一直在加强安全联盟，并加紧努力，以增强对中国在南海（一条重要的全球贸易通道）日益强硬姿态的威慑力。

三边安全集团是在拜登上届政府时期形成的。

美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周五访问马尼拉，与菲律宾国防部长吉尔伯托·特奥多罗和总统费迪南德·马科斯举行会谈。赫格塞斯表示，应加强此类安全集团，以增强对中国在争议海域侵略行为的威慑力。

在访问菲律宾之后，赫格塞斯接下来将前往日本，日本是美国的另一个坚定的条约盟友。

“目前这三个国家正在该地区携手航行……发出合作信号，”赫格塞斯说。“我们的联盟越广泛越好。安全合作越多越好……给我们的对手制造更多战略困境也越好。”

美联社记者吉姆·戈麦斯对本报道亦有贡献。