Philippine Forces Rehearse Island Seizure in South China Sea

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-25 20:14:24 | Updated at 2024-11-27 04:57:15 1 day ago

Philippine Forces Rehearse Island Seizure in South China Sea
U.S. Naval Institute ^ | NOVEMBER 7, 2024 | AARON-MATTHEW LARIOSA

Posted on 11/25/2024 11:47:23 AM PST by Retain Mike

Supported by gunboats and a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Philippine Navy SEALs and Marines approached a South China Sea island owned by Manila in a simulated seizure drill as Chinese forces observed from afar on Wednesday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner and other high-ranking officers observed the exercise, among the most intense that Manila has held in the disputed waters, from the bridge of BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16). Four rigid-hull inflatable boats transported members of Naval Special Operations Unit 4 and the 61st Force Reconnaissance Company to Loaita Island. Known to the Philippines as Kota, and to China as Nányào Dǎo, the island is one of the Philippines’ few possessions in the South China Sea. The island is home to a small Philippine Navy personnel detachment that monitors the surrounding waters and is administered under the Kalayaan municipality of the province of Palawan.

Two new Israeli-built Acero-class fast patrol gunboats, BRP Domingo Deluana (PG-905) and BRP Lolinato To-Ong (PG-902), and a helicopter supported the landing activity. A Philippine Air Force transport aircraft also air dropped supplies. Chinese warships shadowed the drills, with ABS-CBN News reporting the presence of at least two vessels. Brawner told reporters that this was expected, and noted their presence added “realism” to the drills.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.usni.org ...

TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: china; philippine; sea; south

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Thank you very much and God bless you.

I think I am seeing a pattern in my last five posts.

China, being a nuclear power and rapidly expanding its arsenal, changes the strategic equation,

“The task force is comprised of U.S. forces providing our Philippines allies with enhanced cooperation and interoperability for their maritime operations.”

Using standards set forth by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act identify the country’s internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf and sea lanes. China condemned the new laws, claiming that they destabilize the region and reiterated its claims by posting a list of coordinates detailing maritime features, including Sabina and Second Thomas Shoals, and their Chinese names.

On Monday at 11 a.m., the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) confirmed Shandong, together with cruiser CNS Yan’an (106) and destroyer CNS Zhanjiang (165), were sailing in an area 447 miles south of Miyako Island.

1 posted on 11/25/2024 11:47:23 AM PST by Retain Mike

To: Retain Mike

China will have access to Oreshnik technology. U.S. aircraft carriers could not be more obsolete than they are sitting in the South China Sea. The USN is defenseless. The USN runs from the Houthis!

There’ll be no invasions of anything in this region.

2 posted on 11/25/2024 11:54:46 AM PST by hardspunned (Look for the“Putin Stooge” libel, news from Ukraine you’ve gradually grown to trust over 30 months )

To: hardspunned

Go back to China, communist.

3 posted on 11/25/2024 12:09:36 PM PST by Alter Kaker (Gravitation is a theory, not a fact. It should be approached with an open mind.)

To: hardspunned

4 posted on 11/25/2024 12:11:01 PM PST by desertsolitaire ( Lee Harvey Oswald and the Bands final performance)

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