The Philippines’ top diplomat on Monday said the presence of three US Navy aircraft carriers in the South China Sea had nothing to do with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s decision to keep a military agreement with Washington on the deployment of troops for war games. Three American aircraft carriers were patrolling the Indo-Pacific waters for the first time in nearly three years, a massive show of naval force in a region roiled by spiking tensions between the US and China, the Associated Press reported on June 12. The patrol of the three warships, accompanied by Navy cruisers, destroyers, fighter jets and other aircraft comes as the US escalates criticism of China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, its moves to impose greater control over Hong Kong and its island-building activities in the disputed waterway.

US patrols in South China Sea not linked to VFA, says Locsin. (2020, June 23). BusinessWorld, p. S1/10.