Philippines' South China Sea patrols with US within its rights -security adviser

Philippines launches joint sea, air patrols with US military

Aircraft of the Philippine Air Force and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command participate in the joint Philippines-U.S. Maritime Cooperative Activity in the vicinity of Batanes and an area of the South China Sea that falls within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, November 21, 2023. Philippine Air Force/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo

Source: X80001

The Philippines' joint patrols with the United States in the South China Sea are within Manila's rights, and it will continue to support a free and open Indo-Pacific, its national security adviser said on Friday.

The Southeast Asian nation rejects China's assertion that the Philippines enlisted "foreign forces" to patrol the South China Sea, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said in a statement, responding to Beijing's remarks.

"The Philippines is not stirring up trouble," Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters. "Our interests are to protect our rights."

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Teodoro said there will be several iterations of joint patrols moving forward.

The treaty allies conducted joint patrols from Tuesday to Thursday in waters near Taiwan and the South China Sea within Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), fanning further tensions with China.

China claims most of the South China Sea on the basis of a "nine-dash line" that stretches as far as 1,500 km (900 miles) south of its mainland, cutting into the EEZs of rival claimants Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A 2016 arbitral ruling invalidated the claim of China, which does not acknowledge the court's decision.

This article was produced by Reuters news agency. It has not been edited by Global South World.

By Reuters