Aside from the 14 countries officially tasked to observe the conduct of the ongoing Balikatan Exercises, the Philippines says a 15th country – although uninvited – is doing the same task with just as much or possibly with more vigor and enthusiasm – China.
Officials of the Philippines and the US military attend the opening of the 2024 Balikatan Exercises at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on April 22, 2024.MANILA, Philippines —
“They have the best seat in the house because they were able to witness the best of the Philippine Navy, US Navy and the French Navy and because they were there, training audience got more excited to show off all of their capabilities,” he said. He stressed that China clearly violated the NOTAM and that an incident report would be sent to the National task Force on the West Philippine Sea.
“However, they entered into a training, an established training area that has been covered by a Notice to Mariners that was created for their safety and the safety of all commercial vessels. Entering it would have been a big risk on their part,” he pointed out. “I would see it as they were reacting to us, so if they reacted to our presence, then we have the initiative all along. For a change, they’re the ones reacting to us which means that whatever we did was deeply troubling them, deeply affecting them that they saw a need to send two ships.
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