The Chinese military issued a warning to the Philippines, a key United States ally, over a joint naval drill with an American aircraft carrier in the contested South China Sea.
American, Japanese and Philippine vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, conducted the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity from Friday to Saturday to demonstrate “growing regional unity and cooperation,” the Philippine military said.
“We solemnly urge the Philippine side to immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions,” said the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, which oversees Chinese military operations in the South China Sea, on Sunday.
The United States aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, second right, transits the South China Sea during the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity on Nov…Read More | Embassy of Japan in the Philippines
China has made sweeping territorial claims, based on what it describes as “historic rights,” over maritime features in the South China Sea, overlapping with those of other countries in the region, particularly the Philippines, a U.S. mutual defense treaty ally.
The U.S. and its allies and partners have frequently deployed forces in the South China Sea, exercising freedom of navigation and overflight, as the Chinese military maintains a strong presence through its rapidly growing navy and Coast Guard to assert control.
The deployment of the Nimitz in the South China Sea comes as China has stationed a second—and its most advanced—aircraft carrier, CNS Fujian, at a naval base in the region, reinforcing its power projection capability to counter U.S. military presence.
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