The Chinese navy reportedly shadowed joint sea and air activities conducted by the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand in the West Philippine Sea, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday.
China’s People Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces for routine reconnaissance, early warning, and sea-air patrol exercises near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Saturday.
These exercises coincided with the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA), where naval and air force units from the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand held drills in the northern Luzon area, part of the contested waters.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla confirmed that the Philippine military monitored Chinese vessels in the vicinity during the exercise.
However, she emphasized that the multilateral exercise proceeded as planned without interference or threats to the participating ships.
The AFP deployed the BRP Antonio Luna (FF151), BRP Emilio Jacinto (PS35), an AW109 helicopter, and Philippine Air Force Search and Rescue (SAR) assets to the drills, alongside the USS Howard (DDG83) from the US Navy, HMAS Sydney (D48) from Australia, JS Sazanami (DD113) from Japan, and HMNZS Aotearoa (A-11) from New Zealand.
The activities included a pre-sail briefing, communication exercises (COMMEX), cross-deck exercises, division tactics/officer of the watch (Divtacs/OOW) drills, photographic exercises (PHOTOEX), replenishment at sea (RAS) approaches, maritime domain awareness (MDA) exercises, and contact reporting, all aimed at enhancing operational readiness and collaborative capabilities.