ManilaTimes-July 28
China has offered to conduct joint military exercises with the Philippines.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said on Thursday that Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian made the proposal to him during the recent celebration of the 96th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held at a hotel in Mandaluyong City. Brawner said the AFP will have to thoroughly study the “white papers” submitted by Beijing apparently containing the proposed joint military training with Manila.”We are actually following the statement of our President when he said that we are friends to all, enemies to none,” he said. “So we will naturally toe the line. We try to establish relations with the armies, with armed forces around the world, as this is one way for us to actually prevent war,” he said. The offer comes at a time when China and the Philippines are locked in a long-standing territorial dispute involving parts of the South China Sea (SCS). In January 2013, the Philippines instituted arbitral proceedings against China under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). The arbitration concerned the role of historic rights and the source of maritime entitlements in the SCS, the status of certain maritime features in the SCS, and the legality of certain actions by China in the SCS that the Philippines alleged to violate Unclos. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines on most of its submissions. Tensions have mounted between the two countries over continued Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea. Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/07/28/news/china-eyes-military-exercises-with-ph/1902760
