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The USNS John Ericsson docked at a shipyard in Subic Bay in the Philippines in February. The US has boosted its presence and patrols in Asian waters, aligning with strategic allies like the European Union as China’s military clout rises. Photo: Bloomberg
China

Eyeing China, US and EU conclude first-ever joint naval exercise touting ‘high seas freedom of navigation’

  • Two-day military drill described as advancing ‘work towards practical maritime cooperation’ and supporting ‘a free and open Indo-Pacific’
  • Allies previously voiced concern about Beijing’s ‘unilateral actions in the East and South China seas’ and ‘expansive maritime claims’
US-China relations
Bochen Han
Bochen Hanin Washington
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The United States and European Union concluded a two-day joint naval exercise on Friday, marking the first military collaboration of its kind for the two sides as they increasingly align their words and deeds on China and security in the Indo-Pacific.

“The exercise forms part of the shared commitment of the EU and United States to work towards practical maritime cooperation and support a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to a US State Department statement on Friday.

The exercise took place on Thursday and Friday at an undisclosed location, with professional exchanges on boarding procedures, ship navigation and training designed to improve operational coordination between forces. It involved three ships from the US, Spain and Italy, the latter two part of the EU naval force mission Atalanta.

The two sides said their joint exercise took place in the framework of “patrolling and exercising high seas freedom of navigation”.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the joint exercise.

Freedom of navigation is a principle of international law by which countries, with some exceptions, do not have the right to interfere with one another’s ships.

The US regularly conducts what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations (FONOPs) in the Indo-Pacific, including the contested South China Sea, to assert that the waterways are international sea routes, which Beijing decries.
China’s military on Thursday said it warned a US warship to leave after it trespassed in Beijing’s waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. American forces disputed the claim, saying the destroyer was conducting “routine operations” and that it left of its own accord.

On Friday, after the US again sailed the ship near the contested islands, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Tan Kefei warned the US of “serious consequences” if it did not “stop such actions of provocations”.

The decision to pursue the US-EU joint exercise was decided at the third round of bilateral consultations on the Indo-Pacific held in Washington in December.

After the talks, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and her EU counterpart, Stefano Sannino, the European external action service secretary general, said the two sides had never been more aligned in their strategic outlooks.

During the same visit, the allies held a high-level meeting on China in which they expressed concern about Beijing’s “unilateral actions in the East and South China seas” and “expansive maritime claims which are not consistent with international law”.

A year earlier and in response to their concern, they had vowed to uphold and promote “freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law”.

The EU in 2019 named China a “systemic rival”, but has been slower than the US in shifting focus from economic opportunities to security concerns.

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited US President Joe Biden in Washington earlier this month, the two sides announced a new joint dialogue to examine non-market policies and practices of third countries including China.
The EU’s closer security alignment with the US to counter China follows the formation of Aukus in 2021, when Britain, the US and Australia announced a “historic” security pact to strengthen military capabilities in the Pacific.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018, ministers from France and Britain jointly announced that their ships would sail through the South China Sea to continue to uphold the collective right to freedom of navigation. Both countries have subsequently done so over China’s objections.
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