Thousands of American and Philippine naval personnel began ten days of military exercises today, France Press reported. The maneuvers are taking place north and west of the Philippines and have been planned for a long time, BTA quoted.
However, their start was given a day after major exercises by the Chinese armed forces around the island of Taiwan.
And shortly before the maneuvers began, the Philippine government reported an incident between a Philippine civilian patrol vessel and a Chinese warship on October 11. According to the government, the incident was deliberately caused by the Chinese vessel.