PHL holds naval drills with US, Japan

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE Philippines held joint naval drills in the contested South China Sea with the US and Japan last week, the Philippine military said on Sunday, just over a week since China unveiled its most advanced carrier.

In a statement, the Philippine military said its frigates BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna were joined by the US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying warships for a two-day exercise from Nov. 14 to 15 alongside the Japanese destroyer JS Akebono in the disputed waterway.

“These engagements highlight not only the Philippines’ steadfast resolve to defend its maritime domains but also its shared commitment with partners to strengthen deterrence, enhance interoperability and uphold freedom of navigation under a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific,” the armed forces said.

Last week’s anti-submarine warfare and maritime domain awareness drills were the eighth round of what the Philippines calls “multilateral maritime cooperative activities” (MMCA) this year, and the 13th since its inception.

“The continuing MMCA series reflects its commitment to safeguarding the nation’s sovereign rights and advancing collective defense readiness alongside trusted partners,” it said.

The USS Nimitz carrier strike group has been in the South China Sea since late October, when the US Pacific Fleet reported that a fighter jet and a military helicopter crashed during “routine operations.”

The crashes, which happened within 30 minutes of each other, took place in one of the world’s most contested waterways, where tensions between the Philippines and China continue to simmer over contesting sea claims.

The multinational exercises took place more than a week after China unveiled its third and most advanced carrier by far, which analysts said could embolden Beijing to become more assertive in the disputed waterway and may challenge US naval dominance in the contested region.

The 316-meter Fujian is expected to extend Beijing’s naval reach and strengthen its power projection in the Pacific, they said, as maritime tensions with the Philippines and its allies escalate over contesting claims.

“The Fujian attests to China’s growing naval ambitions to project muscular power and assert its 10-dash line claim,” said Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, referring to Beijing’s sweeping and disputed claim over much of the South China Sea.

China now operates three aircraft carriers, with its first two modeled on older Soviet-era designs, as it works to close the gap with US naval might in the region.

Commissioned in early November, the Fujian is capable of carrying more than 50 aircraft, ranging from advanced fighter jets and early warning system planes. The ceremony was held in the military stronghold of Hainan province facing the South China Sea and was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“The new carrier is definitely part of Beijing’s power projection strategy,” Sherwin E. Ona, a security analyst and associate professor at the De La Salle University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

A People’s Liberation Army (PLA)-Navy spokesman said last week the Fujian is expected to make “regular appearances” at sea. China asserts sweeping control over the South China Sea, where tensions with the Philippines and other claimant states persist despite a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed court that voided its overreaching claim.

Manila has described China’s actions in the waterway as coercive and escalatory, while Beijing insists its operations are meant to defend its sovereignty.

“Fujian empowers the PLA-Navy to intensify surveillance, assert air superiority and increase gray-zone pressure against its regional rivals,” Raymond M. Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency group focused on the South China Sea, said in a Facebook chat.

“Its operational presence will further embolden China to escalate confrontations,” he added, noting the Fujian will allow China to further complicate Philippine resupply operations.

While it marks a “very significant step,” Mr. Powell noted it will still take “many years” before China’s aircraft carrier could rival those of the US Navy.

Fujian has a full-load displacement of over 80,000 metric tons and is equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system similar to the USS Gerald R. Ford, the US Navy’s most advanced aircraft carrier.

“It provides the PLA-N with the ability to launch bigger and heavier aircraft. It also allows for more air wings compared to the first two carriers,” Mr. Ona said.

Still, the new aircraft carrier will undergo “in-depth test verification” as many of its systems and technologies are being trialed for the first time, a Chinese navy spokesman said. The ship was “independently designed and built by China,” based on a report posted on the Fujian provincial government, the carrier’s namesake.

“It’s still limited if you compare it with the US Navy’s capability. However, it reinforces its regional power projection, especially in the South and East China Seas, said Mr. Ona.

China could be building its next aircraft carrier already, with construction happening at a dry dock in Liaoning province in the country’s northeast, according to a South China Morning Post report.

ASYMMETRIC WARFARE CAPABILITIES
Mr. Cabalza said this military buildup will become more apparent as the Philippines enter into more defense agreements with Western and Asian powers.

The Southeast Asian nation has stepped up efforts to push back against China’s sweeping sea claims by expanding its web of alliances beyond the US, its long-standing treaty ally. It has forged visiting forces agreements with Australia, New Zealand, and most recently, Canada, alongside a similar deal with Japan.

The Philippines should focus on shoring up its asymmetric warfare capabilities by investing in unmanned systems like drones to counter China’s naval might in the region, Mr. Powell said.

“Ukraine’s example proves that with adaptable, affordable tech and smart tactics, a smaller military can impose real costs on a more powerful aggressor and make large conventional platforms much less effective,” he said.

“Manila needs multi-faceted strategy from coastal and naval modernization, expansion of alliance systems and management, to increased dialogue with Beijing as both countries will play influential roles next year,” Mr. Cabalza said.

Mr. Ona said Philippine forces should also ramp up its joint naval patrols and exercises with allies in the South China Sea to bolster deterrence in the waterway.