Philippines, US and Japan stage joint naval drills off disputed South China Sea shoal

The United States, Japan and the Philippines staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness Friday off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance.

The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships, aircraft, and speedboats from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal in an unsettling moment, but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away.

The latest naval drills, called the Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity, were opened for the first time to a small group of Manila-based media, including an Associated Press photojournalist, since such high-seas maneuvers and joint naval sails began last year.