In efforts to keep international waters “free and open,” five Australian warships have joined American and Japanese navies in conducting military exercises in the Philippine Sea in a reciprocal show of strength as tensions grow over China’s maritime ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. An Australian Joint Task Group, led by HMAS Canberra, joined the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and a Japanese destroyer for a “trilateral exercise” – three-sided or trigonal – as an effort to improve cooperation in keeping international waters “free and open.” It follows maritime drills between a US Navy carrier strike group, led by USS Nimitz, and Indian warships near the vital Malacca Strait trading route, sending a strong signal to Beijing against the backdrop of a violent India-China border standoff last June 15.

Aussies join naval drill in PH Sea. (2020, July 24). Manila Standard, p. A2.