Navy denies China military's claim of 'coordinated patrols' during PH-Japan drills

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June 17, 2025 | 6:03pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy denied the Chinese military's conduct of "coordinated air and sea patrols" during last week's maritime drills with Japan in the West Philippine Sea, calling the statements an attempt to spread false information about China's illegal presence in the Philippines' maritime zones.

Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, told reporters on Tuesday, June 17, that the Philippine Navy "did not monitor any coordinated air and maritime patrols in our maritime zones conducted by the Southern Theater Command." 

Instead, Trinidad said the Navy monitored "the continued illegal presence in our maritime zones of the PLA Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard, specifically in Bajo de Masinloc, Pag-asa, Sabina, and Ayungin Shoals." 

"Reports like these are mere attempts at misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation to shape the internal and domestic narrative of the Chinese Communist Party's illegal claims in our maritime domain," Trinidad said.

During the June 14 maritime exercise between the Philippine Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force — also called a "maritime cooperative activity" — Trinidad said they spotted a People's Liberation Army Navy warship that "[tailed] the formation" and came within 80 nautical miles of Japan's warship.

The Chinese Jiangkai-class frigate also dispatched and retrieved drones, "which we could only surmise was monitoring the conduct of the activity," Trinidad said.

The military exercise between the Philippines and Japan is their first major activity since Japanese lawmakers ratified the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) on June 6 — Tokyo's first-ever military access agreement with an Asian country. It is also the second bilateral maritime drill between the Philippines and Japan since August 2024.

Philippine assets deployed included the newly commissioned guided missile frigate BRP Miguel Malvar, an AW159 anti-submarine helicopter, and an intelligence and surveillance aircraft. Meanwhile, Japan deployed the guided missile destroyer JS Takanami and an SH-60K Seahawk helicopter.

China's Southern Theater Command said on Sunday it conducted "joint sea and air patrols" in the South China Sea in response to joint patrols that "raise security risks in the South China Sea and undermine regional peace and stability."

Trinidad dismissed the Chinese military command's statement as mere propaganda. While the Navy spokesperson confirmed that a Chinese frigate did shadow the vessels, he does not consider this a "coordinated air and sea patrol."

Typically, the Navy spokesperson said, Beijing's military command does not make "coercive or aggressive actions" during the activity itself, after which it would issue false claims. "After the activity, they would come up with malign influence or fake news stating that they have conducted patrols in the vicinity of our maritime domain," Trinidad said.

This kind of messaging targets both China's domestic audience and other foreign powers, he added.

"They are doing this ... [to] shape the international narrative that would be favorable to their illegal claims in our maritime zones," Trinidad said. 

"On their claim that we are inviting foreign powers, I mentioned last week that that statement does not hold any water... They are the illegal presence in our maritime zones," he added.

On June 15, the day after the exercise, the Navy monitored two PLA Navy warships and two Chinese Coast Guard vessels near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal). The same day, two Chinese Coast Guard ships launched rigid hull inflatable boats at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal while another PLA Navy warship was spotted near Sabina (Escoda) Shoal.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, while the Philippines, among other Southeast Asian nations, have overlapping claims to parts of it.

Beijing has also persistently ignored a 2016 international tribunal ruling that its claims have no legal basis.