Philippine navy to monitor Taiwan military drill

Manila: The Philippine Navy said it would closely watch military activity near its border with Taiwan following the latter’s announcement that it would hold force readiness drills in the area on Thursday.

“We have forces in Batanes that could help us monitor the activities of the Taiwanese,” Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said on Tuesday as he referred to the Philippines’ northernmost territory close to the demarcation with Taiwan.

The drills take place as tensions ran high between Manila and Taipei recently following the shooting of a 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman in Balintang Channel near Batanes on May 9 last year.

According to reports, vessels and aircraft from the Taiwanese Navy and Coast Guard are due to conduct drills on Thursday in waters south of Taiwan, close to the Batanes Islands. Destroyers, class frigates, fighters and attack aircraft will take part in the military exercise.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said on Tuesday that President Benigno Aquino III wants to approach the issue over the shooting incident in a “calm” manner so as not to damage relations with Taiwan. “There will be a response and it will be handed through the proper channels and not through the media,” Lacierda said.

Prior to the drills, Taiwanese commercial fishing vessels and Philippine Coast Guard vessels were involved in an incident in the Balintang Channel.

A Taiwanese fishing vessel, Guang Ta Hsin 28, allegedly tried to ram into a Philippine Coast Guard patrol craft, prompting Filipinos to fire at the Taiwanese vessel.