Three Philippine fighter jets and two American bombers on Tuesday carried out joint air patrol workout routines – the primary below US President Donald Trump’s administration – that introduced them close to Scarborough Shoal, a key flashpoint within the South China Sea.
Analysts stated the train underscored Manila’s efforts to claim its maritime claims whereas testing Washington’s dedication to regional safety below the renewed US-Philippines alliance.
Throughout a media briefing on the identical day, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad stated it was “the primary train below the [Trump] administration”.
When requested concerning the implications for US-Philippines relations, Trinidad stated bilateral ties had “been established over a protracted time frame” and remained sturdy at each the navy and people-to-people ranges. “We anticipate them to stay that manner,” he added.
Scarborough Shoal has been a key flashpoint within the South China Sea, the place Beijing asserts sweeping claims below its “nine-dash line”, a stance rejected by a world tribunal in 2016. The ruling additionally recognised the atoll, which lies inside the Philippines’ unique financial zone (EEZ), as a standard fishing floor for Southeast Asian nations. Nevertheless, China continues to limit entry to the maritime function.
Tensions over the realm had been exacerbated final December when China submitted to the United Nations nautical charts and geographic coordinates formally claiming the shoal, which it referred to as Huangyan Island, as a part of its maritime territory.