Posted on 04/01/2024 10:28:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The U.S., Japan and the Philippines will launch joint naval patrols in the South China Sea later this year, according to a U.S. official and a foreign diplomat familiar with the planning. It’s a major move to counter China in the region — and one likely to elicit a strong response from Beijing.
The three-country naval maneuvers are part of a package of initiatives that President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will unveil at their first-ever trilateral summit next month, the official and the diplomat said.
The White House is also expected to announce that it will “seriously consider” having Japan as a technological partner in elements of the “AUKUS” security partnership between the U.S., U.K. and Australia, according to a Defense Department official and another person familiar with the planning, both granted anonymity to speak ahead of an announcement.
The April 11 trilateral summit is seen as key to cementing efforts by the three countries to counter China’s regional influence. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement last week that the three leaders will discuss ways to “further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific,” but did not provide further details.
The South China Sea has become increasingly tense in recent years as China has used its military might to lay claim to waters internationally recognized as belonging to the Philippines — establishing bases and harassing Philippine Coast Guard units. There are rising concerns in Washington that Beijing and Manila could tip into open conflict. Beijing could also use those military outposts to support a blockade or invasion of Taiwan in coming years.
The joint naval patrols will mark the most robust assertion of the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy hinged to rallying allies and partners to offset China’s
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Well, I hope there are no collisions or other accidents that seem to have become common lately.
The Philippines doing the heavy lifting-sarc.
There wasn’t a peep out of Bammy when the CCP occupied and built military islands out of PI shoals, and Russia took Crimea.
Oh yeah, where was the UN? Busy condemning Israel for existing.
Who would count on the US having their backs in a showdown with the CCP?
It seems that Japan and the Philippines expect it, Australia and South Korea count on it, Taiwan is probably expecting more help than they already get.
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