Philippines, Japan conduct joint exercise in South China Sea
The Philippines and Japan conducted a joint maritime exercise Saturday in an area of the South China Sea that the Southeast Asian country insists it has jurisdiction over, amid China's intensifying claims in the waters.
The Miguel Malvar, a guided missile frigate from the Philippine Navy and the Takanami, a destroyer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, took part in the exercise, which was held west of the town of Masinloc on the Philippines' main island of Luzon.
The exercise, called the Maritime Cooperative Activity, is aimed at strengthening international cooperation to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Philippine military has said.
Kyodo News and some other select members of the media from the Philippines and Japan were onboard the frigate, and watched it and the Japanese ship conduct an anti-submarine warfare drill that the countries did not conduct during their first such exercise last August.
"The spirit of friendship and mutual respect in our maritime forces remain vital in promoting peace, stability and maritime security in the region," Capt. Paul Michael Hechanova, commander of the Miguel Malvar, said in a message to the Takanami, as seen in a video released by the Philippine military.
Two Chinese navy ships were spotted from a distance but there were no radio challenges or other untoward incidents.
The Philippines has reported repeated incursions by Chinese vessels in its exclusive economic zone, some sailing to within some 50 nautical miles of Luzon's shore earlier this year. China rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated the country's claims over almost the entire South China Sea.
Japan and the Philippines signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement to facilitate joint exercises and disaster relief operations last July, and aside from holding bilateral drills the two countries have also taken part in multilateral exercises involving the United States and Australia, among others.
Related coverage:
China, ASEAN, Arab states hold 1st summit to bolster economic ties
ASEAN leaders meet as U.S. tariffs rattle regional economies
Japan PM hails "relations of trust" with Vietnam, Philippine leaders
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
13 hours ago
- Japan Today
Japanese man provided info to intelligence agency: Chinese court
A Japanese businessman, who was convicted earlier this week by a Chinese court for engaging in spying, provided information to an intelligence agency and received rewards, sources familiar with Sino-Japanese relations said Saturday. On Wednesday, the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced the Astellas Pharma Inc. employee in his 60s to three years and six months in prison for espionage activities, but the verdict did not touch on specific details of how he acted illegally in China. It remains unknown which intelligence agency requested the man to collect information about Chinese domestic affairs. The ruling can be appealed within 10 days from Thursday, but the Japanese citizen does not plan to do so, the sources said. The man was detained in March 2023, just before his scheduled return to Japan, formally arrested in October that year and indicted in August 2024. He stood trial for the first time in November last year in a closed-door hearing at the Beijing court. The Japanese government continues to demand the early release of the businessman as well as other Japanese nationals detained in China, saying the issue has become "one of the major obstructive factors" for people-to-people exchanges and improvement of public sentiment. © KYODO
Nikkei Asia
16 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
The scam that turned China's housing slump into a cash machine
Caixin Speculators exploit gap between sales prices, valuations, adding to banks' risks Residential buildings under construction in Huizhou, China, in October 2024. Once a pillar of the economy, China's property market has undergone a painful correction since late 2021. © Reuters WANG JING and HAN WEI, Caixin When Li Qing decided to sell her apartment in the southern Chinese city of Guilin, the real estate agent made an enticing offer: a quick sale and a guaranteed payment of 900,000 yuan ($125,000), hassle-free. All she had to do was agree to a few unusual conditions. The agent instructed Li to sign two separate sales contracts and to permit the buyer to name any individual as the "registered person" on the mortgage documents -- the nominal buyer and loan applicant.
Yomiuri Shimbun
16 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
US Farm Agency Fires 70 Foreign Researchers Following National
WASHINGTON, July 18 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has fired 70 foreign contract researchers after a national security review intended to secure the U.S. food supply from adversaries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. 'USDA has completed a thorough review of individuals authorized to work on contracts with the department and identified approximately 70 individuals from countries of concern,' a spokesperson said. 'The individuals working on these contracts from countries of concern will no longer be able to work on USDA projects.' U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on July 8 had announced a farm security plan that included efforts to bar purchases of U.S. farmland by nationals of the four countries, and to terminate any existing research agreements with them. Rollins said the moves were necessary to secure the U.S. food supply. The contractors had worked at the Agricultural Research Service, the in-house research arm of the USDA, said Thomas Henderson, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1657, which represents ARS workers in Albany, California. Most of those dismissed were Chinese post-doctoral researchers on two-year contracts with the agency, and who were already subject to vetting before being hired, Henderson said. Some arrived to work on July 9 to find their badges no longer worked, he said. Because of a federal hiring freeze that has been extended through October 15, the USDA will not be able to replace the fired staff and will need to halt ongoing scientific work that benefits farmers, like a project to develop a vaccine for a deadly toxin that occurs in undercooked beef, Henderson said. 'We don't have the talent now to progress on these research projects. It's setting us back by years, if not decades,' he said. The USDA did not comment on the concern about lost research capacity. The ARS conducts research on agriculture topics like pests, food safety and climate change that are high-priority to American farmers. The agency has lost about 1,200 employees, more than 17% of its 2024 staffing level, to terminations and voluntary incentives to quit offered by President Donald Trump's administration. In a July 8 memo, Rollins prohibited USDA staff from publishing research with foreign nationals from the four 'countries of concern' without agency approval and from attending events organized by 'foreign adversaries.' Some ARS staff were further told in a meeting that all publications currently under review will be re-analyzed and those co-authored with foreign nationals from the four countries will be denied, said Ethan Roberts, an ARS employee and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3247. Before the memo, there were already extra review processes in place to publishing research conducted with people from the four countries, Roberts said.
