US destroyer to join war games near Scarborough

From the Daily Tribune (Jun 28): US destroyer to join war games near Scarborough

A US destroyer will join the Philippine Navy’s flagship for war games starting yesterday close to a flashpoint area of the South China Sea, adding to tensions with China over rival territorial claims.

The exercises are a boost for the Philippines’ poorly equipped military as it struggles with perceived rising Chinese aggression, and follows repeated pleas to longtime ally the United States for protection.

“The goal of these exercises is to further boost cooperation... between the two armed forces and further streamline responses to counter-terrorism and maritime security,” deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte told Agence France Presse.

The six-day exercises are an annual event but this year they will be held off close to Scarborough Shoal which China insists it owns.

The shoal is a tiny set of rocks and islets in the South China Sea 230 kilometers east of Luzon and 1,200 kms from the nearest major Chinese landmass.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital South China Sea, even waters close to the shores of its smaller neighbors.

Tensions between China and other claimants to the sea, particularly the Philippines and Vietnam, have escalated in recent years amid a series of Chinese political and military actions to assert its claims to the waters.

Philippine Navy (PN) spokesman Lt. Commander Gregory Fabic said some of the Philippine-US exercises would be held between Luzon island and the shoal.

Specifically, Fabic said some of the drills would be 108 kms east of Scarborough Shoal in “sea lanes of communication within Philippine territory.”

Nevertheless, Fabic stressed the war games were not meant to provoke China.

“While the exercises will be between Scarborough Shoal and the main island of Luzon, the focus is inter-operability and not targeted against the Chinese,” Fabic told AFP.

The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises will involve three US Navy vessels, including the USS Fitzgerald, a guided missile destroyer, according to a PN statement.

The Philippines will deploy its flagship, a former US Coast Guard cutter called the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, as well as other Navy and Coast Guard vessels.

About 500 US forces and another 500 Filipino troops will take part in the exercises, according to Fabic.

He said among the highlights was an exercise designed to intercept suspected enemy ships, board them and seize materials they may be carrying that could pose a danger to allies.

Since last month, the PN has also been monitoring Chinese vessels circling in another part of the South China Sea close to a Philippine-controlled reef Second Thomas Shoal.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/nation/item/15958-us-destroyer-to-join-war-games-near-scarborough