Philippines DOE reaffirms the 2032 target for bringing nuclear power online in Philippines.
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Philippines - China Tensions Mounting
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Philippines DOE reaffirms the 2032 target for bringing nuclear power online in Philippines.
Australia Air Force 37 Sqn sent five aviators to JATT-P to brief the Philippines Air Force at Mactan Air Base on C-130 maintenance, engineering, and logistics as Manila expands its Hercules fleet. Move boosts partner airlift capacity and interoperability.
Philippine Marine Corps unveils its first BrahMos shore based anti-ship missile battery (290 km range) during its 75th anniversary in Zambales, marking a new mobile supersonic sea denial capability for the Philippines.
US & Philippines | U.S. Marines Deploy Drones in S.C.S.:The U.S. Marine Corps has temporarily deployed an MQ-9A Reaper drone unit (VMU-1) to the Philippines at Manila’s request to support shared maritime domain awareness in the West Philippine Sea / South China Sea.
According to Marine Forces Pacific, the MQ-9As are unarmed and are focused on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of Philippine maritime security operations amid ongoing incidents with foreign vessels in the area.
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China Coast Guard ship formation sails through Japan-administered Senkaku Islands
A China Coast Guard ship formation passed through the waters of the Senkaku Islands on Sunday on a "rights enforcement patrol", the China Coast Guard said in a statement, as Beijing ramps up tensions with Japan over its prime minister's remarks on Taiwan.
www.reuters.com
China & Philippines | PLA Bomber Exercise:PLA Southern Theater Command says it has flown a bomber formation patrol over the South China Sea, describing it as a “routine patrol” but framing it as a response to recent Philippines, US, Japan maritime drills.
In a public statement, spokesperson Tian Junli accuses Manila of “colluding with external forces” in “so-called joint patrols” and warns the Philippines to “immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions” in the area.
Philippine officials, in separate statements on the same drills, say the activity is aimed at protecting the country’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone and supporting a rules-based order with partners.
South China Sea:Philippine forces completed a routine resupply and personnel rotation to the BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal on Friday, with the mission described by officials as "without any untoward incident."
Two senior Philippine officials told AP that Chinese Coast Guard ships jammed communications in and around the shoal during the hourslong mission, apparently to complicate possible drone and other surveillance by the United States and other partners.
According to the same officials, this was the 12th successful resupply since last year under a temporary nonaggression understanding covering the outpost. No physical interference was reported on this run, but the reported jamming signals an increased focus on electronic disruption during rota
tions.
PLA Southern Theater Command says it has flown a bomber formation patrol over the South China Sea, describing it as a “routine patrol” but framing it as a response to recent Philippines, US, Japan maritime drills.
In a public statement, spokesperson Tian Junli accuses Manila of “colluding with external forces” in “so-called joint patrols” and warns the Philippines to “immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions” in the area.
Philippine officials, in separate statements on the same drills, say the activity is aimed at protecting the country’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone and supporting a rules-based order with partners.
Philippines & China Update:The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has publicly rejected China’s claim that PLA bomber formations “patrolled” the West Philippine Sea during recent Philippines, US, and Japan maritime drills.
AFP officials say no Chinese bombers were detected over the exercise area, directly contradicting the earlier statement from China’s Southern Theater Command that framed the supposed bomber patrol as a “warning” to Manila.
This puts two official narratives head to head: Beijing’s public claim of a bomber show of force, and Manila’s on-the-record denial that any such aircraft were present in its monitored airspace.
US Proposal for New Base in Philippines:A US congressional body, the US & China Economic and Security Review Commission, has proposed that Taiwan help finance upgrades at Philippine bases used by US forces under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
The idea: route Taipei’s contributions through the US Foreign Military Sales system as “non-weapon services,” so funding goes into runways, hangars, fuel storage, logistics facilities, and potentially Philippine shipyards that could also handle US Navy work.
The focus is EDCA sites on Luzon and Palawan, which Washington views as central to any Taiwan Strait or South China Sea contingency. The commission argues that Taiwan directly benefits from hardened US access and infrastructure in the Philippines, while the FMS structure gives Taipei political cover by avoiding the optics of directly bankrolling Philippine military bases.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro used the EU & Indo Pacific Ministerial Forum in Brussels to call for stronger maritime cooperation with the EU in response to Beijing’s claims and behavior in the South China Sea.
She highlighted EU frigate transits and presence operations in regional waters, interest in EU member states joining as observers in future maritime exercises, and the need to anchor South China Sea disputes in a multilateral, rules based framework built around international law and UNCLOS.
Taken together, this adds a European leg to Manila’s wider deterrence network with the United States, Japan and other Indo Pacific partners by tying South China Sea security more directly into EU policy and naval presence.
USS George Washington (CVN-73), the forward-deployed carrier based in Yokosuka, entered the South China Sea via the Luzon Strait on 17 November, according to USNI, following the departure of the Nimitz carrier strike group toward the Indian Ocean. The move comes amid sustained Chinese pressure around Scarborough Shoal and broader PLA activity across the first island chain.
With George Washington now in the South China Sea, the US Navy maintains continuous carrier coverage in and around contested waters, rotating strike groups through the Philippine Sea and South China Sea while allied patrols and coast guards track Chinese operations near Philippine-claimed features.
Philippine Coast Guard reports that BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) shadowed and issued radio challenges to China Coast Guard vessels 4305 and 3305 during a routine patrol near Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal.
PCG says Cabra maintained contact until the Chinese ships moved away, mirroring the close-tracking tactics usually used by CCG against Philippine vessels.
The radio challenge cited the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, UNCLOS, and the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, and was framed by PCG as part of a broader effort to “step up presence” around the shoal.
Chinese navy carrier CNS Shandong has deployed with an escort group to waters east of Luzon, in what maritime and regional outlets describe as a warning signal following recent US & Philippine drills that featured NMESIS anti ship missile deployments in the Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel region.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Defense, the group includes at least the Type 055 destroyer CNS Yan’an and the Type 815A electronic surveillance ship CNS Tianguanxing. The Shandong has been observed conducting fixed wing flight operations, indicating a full carrier air wing training profile rather than a simple transit.
The Philippine Fleet and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force have held new high level talks in Tokyo, with Manila saying the goal is to “tighten” naval cooperation as both sides respond to Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea and wider Indo Pacific.
The visit by Philippine Fleet commander Rear Adm. Joe Anthony Orbe included engagements with the Japan Self Defense Fleet and JMSDF leadership, and is being framed in Manila as part of a broader effort to expand bilateral exercises, port calls, and information sharing now that the Japan & Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement is in force.
Philippine Navy WPS spokesman Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad says 30 Chinese vessels were monitored across four West Philippine Sea features as of Monday:
Bajo de Masinloc: 4 PLAN warships, 8 China Coast Guard ships. Ayungin Shoal: 1 PLAN ship, 6 CCG ships. Escoda Shoal: 1 PLAN ship, 5 CCG ships. Pag-asa Island: 5 CCG ships.
Retired Philippine Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio warns that China’s move to declare a “national nature reserve” at Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal could be a prelude to building a permanent monitoring station on the feature.
Carpio argues that running a nature reserve effectively requires on-site monitoring and personnel, which would in practice entrench a manned Chinese facility inside the Philippine EEZ and further consolidate Beijing’s control of the shoal, despite the 2016 arbitral ruling rejecting China’s historic rights claim.
“Task Force Philippines” is now operational as a joint US staff element of about 60 personnel, led by Maj. Gen. Thomas Savage under US Pacific Fleet. The unit has no permanently assigned ships or aircraft. Instead it coordinates US exercises and operations with the Armed Forces of the Philippines across the archipelago, supporting Manila’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept and responses around areas such as Scarborough Shoal. Headquarters location is undisclosed for operational security.
The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed its largest vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua, to shadow and challenge China Coast Guard ship 4305 near Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc).
PCG reporting says the deployment on 27 November is meant to match the size of the Chinese hull and maintain a visible Philippine presence inside its claimed EEZ.
No collision or water cannon use was reported during the documented interaction, but it adds another high tonnage encounter to the Scarborough pattern.
ABS CBN, citing Philippine Coast Guard officials, reports that PCG vessel BRP Cabra is actively blocking the advance of a China Coast Guard ship off the coast of Zambales, on the western side of Luzon.
The incident follows a series of encounters near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), where Philippine authorities have challenged Chinese patrols they say operate inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone. Today’s report describes Cabra using close shadowing and blocking to prevent the larger CCG vessel from moving closer to the coast.
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Good for the Philippines. About time someone stood up to China.