Manila, Philippines – A two-month series of military drills between the Philippines and US, together with defense allies, began in late January in the West Philippine Sea, a navy official said on Tuesday, Feb. 3, as Manila countered Beijing’s accusation of stoking tensions in the maritime flashpoint.
Maritime and aviation authorities have issued a notice to airmen and mariners (NOTAM) about maritime and airspace restrictions on Jan. 21 to March 31.
The NOTAM covers an area off the coastline of Zambales in northwest Luzon as part of protocols, the military said.
“Instead of repeatedly requesting notices for every activity, the coverage was broader so that all activities within that timeframe are already covered,” Navy Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, armed forces spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, told a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
Trinidad said newly acquired weapons systems and assets will be part of the military exercises. He did not elaborate.
The bilateral and multilateral wargames have irked Beijing which said early in the week that Manila has only been fanning tensions through those activities with Washington and other defense partners.
“These accusations are baseless. The area is covered by a notice to airmen that covers activities that are pre-scheduled, duly coordinated, and approved between the Philippines and her treaty ally. These exercises are well within our EEZ – areas over which we have sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction. It includes Bajo de Masinloc and more than 600 nautical miles from China,” Trinidad said.
The Chinese embassy in Manila has yet to respond to journalists’ requests for comment.
Chinese presence in the maritime flashpoint has increased in January, according to naval monitoring.
The month saw 19,655 vessels transiting the country’s maritime domain – 16,670 of which were foreign-owned. Radio challenges have been issued, the navy said.
Vessels from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard alone accounted for 48 of those that were spotted in the West Philippine Sea last week, doubling the count from the week before and coinciding with the start of the two-month military drills.
