Philippines, Australia, Japan, US set to conduct maritime activity on April 7

The Philippines, Australia, Japan, and the United States are set to conduct a joint maritime activity within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Sunday, April 7, 2024.

In a joint statement released Saturday, the four nations’s defense chiefs said the conduct of a Maritime Cooperative Activity within the Philippines’ EEZ sought to “uphold the right to freedom of navigation and overflight, and respect for maritime rights under international law, reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”

The four nations’ combined defense forces will jointly conduct the maritime activity “demonstrating our collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

“The Maritime Cooperative Activity will be conducted by naval/maritime and air force units in a manner that is consistent with international law as well as domestic laws and rules of respective nations, and with due regard to the safety of navigation and the rights and interests of other states,” the statement read.

“It will also demonstrate professional interactions among naval/maritime and air forces,” the statement added.

Kyodo news agency earlier reported that the four countries were planning anti-submarine drills in the South China Sea on April 7.

The conduct of the Maritime Cooperative Activity comes in the wake of harassment and water cannon attacks by the China Coast Guard against Philippine vessels on resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal within the Philippines’ EEZ. Seven Filipino sailors were injured in two water cannon incidents last month.

Signatories in the joint statement include Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Japan Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, Australia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III.

“Ultimately, the Maritime Cooperative Activity will strengthen the interoperability of our defense/armed forces doctrines, tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the defense chiefs said.

The Philippines, Australia, Japan, and US defense chiefs added that they stand with all nations in safeguarding the international order—based on the rule of law—that is the foundation for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region.

“Our four nations reaffirm the position regarding the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award as a final and legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute,” the defense chiefs said. — VDV, GMA Integrated News