Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua expressed China’s concern over a naval exercise that the United States will be conducting in the South China Sea next month. The ambassador called on President Duterte in Malacañang last Monday. The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet reportedly plans a series of operations in the area as well as in the Taiwan Strait further north one week in November. The naval exercise may coincide with China President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Philippines after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Papua New Guinea. Even as he expressed concern, the Chinese ambassador reiterated that China has no desire to engage any claimant state in a military confrontation in the South China Sea.

US schedules another South China Sea exercise. (2018, October 15). Manila Bulletin, p. 8.