US-Australia-New Zealand-Philippines military exercises to deter China, but unexpectedly more Chinese warships arrived on the scene, leaving the Philippine commander in a dilemma!
From October 30 to 31, the navies of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines held the 12th multilateral maritime cooperation operation (MMCA) joint military exercise in the West Philippine Sea.
The participating fleets included the US Navy's "Fitzgerald" destroyer, the Australian Navy's "Balatna" frigate, the New Zealand Navy's "Aotearoa" replenishment ship, and the Philippine Navy's "Jose Rizal" frigate. The exercise was originally intended to deter China.
However, an unexpected situation occurred during the exercise - at least five Chinese naval vessels appeared near the activity area, one of which was identified as the 052D-type destroyer "Zhanjiang".
Major Michael Andres, the operations officer of the Philippine Navy's "Rizal" frigate, revealed that the focus of this exercise was "anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare," which are two key capabilities that the Philippine Armed Forces are strengthening. He did not expect that the number of Chinese warships was more than those of the four countries participating in the exercise. Major Andres described: "They just approached us, with the closest distance about 3 to 5 nautical miles, but it did not affect our activities."
As the crew of the Philippine "Rizal" frigate waved to the sailors on the New Zealand "Aotearoa" replenishment ship, the gray outlines of Chinese navy ships quietly moved across the sea surface nearby.
The reality that there were more Chinese naval vessels on site than the four countries' participating ships made this carefully planned "muscle show" seem powerless.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847564619805827/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.