Australia to boost South China Sea presence by joining Philippines’ maritime defence patrols
The move to secure Australia’s strategic interests is likely to earn China’s ire and increase the potential for sanctions, analysts say
Australia will strengthen its presence in the South China Sea through joint maritime defence activities with the Philippines, a move analysts have said reflects Canberra’s strategic interest in securing vital trade routes even at the risk of inviting economic backlash from Beijing.
Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu recently told reporters that her country would be increasing its maritime cooperative activities (MCA) with Manila.
“In terms of MCAs, you can expect to see more into the future. This is what we do when you have [a] very close defence cooperation relationship,” Yu said at a media reception at her residence over the weekend, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency.
Yu described the MCAs as a demonstration of the “collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific” between Manila and its partners.
Colonel Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Public Affairs Office, told This Week in Asia that Manila planned to hold regular MCAs to normalise the situation in the South China Sea and was working on the schedule of the next joint maritime patrols.
Previous examples of Australian participation in MCAs took place in April and August, when the country was involved in joint sails with the naval forces of the Philippines, United States, Canada and Japan in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s term for the portion of the South China Sea that falls within its exclusive economic zone.
