Tag: naval drill

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Chinese aircraft surveilled US, Japan, France’s naval drill

The Japanese defence ministry reported the sighting of one Y-9 reconnaissance variant in the Pacific on Thursday…reports Asian Lite News

China deployed a reconnaissance plane over Pacific waters east of Taiwan last week that Chinese media said monitored and gathered intelligence on an exercise involving the navies of the United States, Japan, France and Canada.

A Y-9 cargo aircraft variant fitted with intelligence-gathering equipment most likely monitored and collected intelligence on the exercise, Chinese state-backed Global Times reported on Sunday, citing analysts.

Two U.S. aircraft carriers, the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan, had been operating around the geopolitically important Ryukyu Islands in the Philippine Sea since Thursday, Global Times cited a Beijing-based think tank as saying.

The islands separate the East China Sea from the Philippine Sea, and dot the West Pacific between Japan and Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

On Friday, the U.S. kicked off the exercise in the Philippine Sea, with two carrier strike groups jointly operating for the first time since June 2020, the U.S. 7th Fleet said in a statement.

The Japanese defence ministry reported the sighting of one Y-9 reconnaissance variant in the Pacific on Thursday.

Military encounters between China and the United States and its allies in the Western Pacific have risen in recent years as China has grown increasingly assertive in the East and South China Seas, as well as around Taiwan.

Days before the quadrilateral exercise, the coast guards of the Philippines, United States and Japan held their first trilateral exercise off the coast of a western Philippine province.

‘Chinese spy base operating in Cuba for years’

A Chinese spy base in Cuba that could intercept electronic signals from nearby US military and commercial buildings has been operating since or before 2019 when the Chinese base was upgraded, The News York Times reported citing a Biden administration official.

The official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence said that the spy base was an issue that the Biden administration had inherited from former US President Donald Trump, The New York Times reported. After Biden assumed office as US President, his administration was given details regarding the base and plans which China was considering to set up similar facilities around the world, according to official.

The official said that the Biden administration has been making efforts to counter China’s efforts to gain a foothold in the region and elsewhere and adding that they are doing it mainly by engaging diplomatically with nations that Beijing was pursuing as potential hosts for such bases. According to the official, the administration had slowed China’s plans. However, they did not provide details regarding the matter.

In a joint statement on Thursday, US Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the panel’s top Republican, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said they were “deeply disturbed” by reports that Cuba and China are working together to target the US and its people, according to The New York Times. Earlier this week, the US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refuted the reports calling them “not accurate.” He said that they have had “real concerns” regarding China’s ties with Cuba and “we have been concerned since Day 1 of the administration about China’s activities in our hemisphere and around the world,” as per The New York Times report

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India, UK hold joint naval exercise in Bay of Bengal

The bilateral maritime exercise was designed to hone the ability of the two navies to operate together in the maritime domain…reports Asian Lite News.

The Indian Navy and the Royal Navy of United Kingdom carried out a two-day maritime drill in the Bay of Bengal starting Wednesday to augment interoperability and adaptability in the ever-changing security scenarios.

It was a two-day bilateral Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group (CSG)-21 led by HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Navy said.

The bilateral maritime exercise was designed to hone the ability of the two navies to operate together in the maritime domain.

The maiden exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy’s latest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, included the participation of CSG-21 comprising Type 23 Frigates and an Astute-class submarine in addition to the other surface combatants.

The Indian Navy was represented by IN ships Satpura, Ranvir, Jyoti, Kavaratti, Kulish and a submarine.

Anti-submarine warfare capable long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8I also participated in the exercise.

With the presence of the CSG-21 in the Indian Ocean, the exercise offered excellent opportunity to engage over the entire spectrum of maritime operations, including ASW, anti-air and anti-surface warfare.

The exercise also witnessed the maiden participation of the F35B Lightning which operates from the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Regular Indian Navy and Royal Navy interactions over the years have augmented their professional content, interoperability and adaptability in the ever-changing security scenarios.

“The inter-operability achieved over the years has ensured a quantum jump in the complexity and scale of professional exchanges, which is being further enhanced by the presence of the Royal Navy’s Carrier Strike Group in the Indian Ocean,” the Indian Navy stated.

According to an official statement issued by the British High Commission in New Delhi, “The two countries are in the middle of a carrier renaissance, and the CSG is spearheading the UK’s joint expeditionary capability.”

“An Indian warship will also go for an exercise with the Royal Navy off the coast of the UK in August,” the statement added.

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Asia News China

Philippines holds naval drills in disputed sea amid tensions

PCG said eight capital ships of the national government have been deployed for the maritime exercises in Bajo De Masinloc and Pag-asa Island…reports Asian Lite News

The Philippines has conducted maritime exercises in the disputed West Philippine Sea, as Chinese coast guard ships continue to amass near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources began their “intensified” maritime training, CNN Philippines reported.

In a statement, the PCG said eight capital ships of the national government have been deployed for the maritime exercises in Bajo De Masinloc and Pag-asa Island. The exercises cover navigation, small boat operations, maintenance, and logistical operations.

Lawyers, medical workers, and maritime specialists are also on board the vessels, the PCG said.

The vessels would also be used to perform maritime drills in the Batanes Group of Islands, Benham Rise, as well as in the southern and eastern portions of the Philippines.

“We are supporting the whole-of-nation approach in securing our maritime jurisdiction, especially the efforts of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea to undertake maritime security, maritime safety, maritime law enforcement, maritime search and rescue, and marine environmental protection roles in our country’s waters,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Armando Balilo said.

China refuses to remove its vessels

Last Friday, the Foreign Affairs Department filed two diplomatic protests amid China’s refusal to remove its vessels in the country’s maritime zones.

The DFA said that as of April 20, 160 Chinese fishing vessels and maritime militia have been spotted by law enforcement agencies in Philippine waters.”

Philippine Navy(wikipedia)

The presence of these vessels blatantly infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” the DFA said in a statement.

Last month, the Philippines announced the deployment of additional navy ships to the South China Sea after over 200 Chinese vessels were spotted in the Whitsun Reef. Later, the Philippines also filed a diplomatic protest over the issue.

China claims sovereignty

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has overlapping territorial claims with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

China has been increasing its maritime activities in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea over the past few months, partly in response to Beijing’s concerns over the increasing US military presence in the region because of escalating Sino-US tensions.

Philippine Navy(wikipedia)

The defence and foreign affairs ministries in the Philippines have been up in arms for a fortnight over the presence of Chinese vessels at Whitsun Reef, with statements flying back and forth over the alleged incursion into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Even after such an intensifying row, China hasn’t shown any sign of relocation of the vessels.

Instead, it has accused the Philippines of using a 2016 international tribunal ruling, which deprived China of certain outcrops of territorial-generating status, the ruling from the permanent court of arbitration effectively punches holes in China’s all-encompassing “nine-dash” line that stretches deep into the South China Sea, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

The 2016 International Tribunal Ruling denies China of its thousand years of fishing rights in the area. (ANI)

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