Us China Naval Cooperation

China today said it has "taken note" of India's announcement that Australia will join the annual Malabar naval exercises along with the US and Japan, underlining that military cooperation should be "conducive" to regional peace and stability.

Asked about the most recent drilling, Vietnamese officials said their Chinese counterparts have started raising concerns about cooperation with both Repsol and ExxonMobil Corp. of the United States, which is developing the $10 billion "Blue Whale" gas concession off central Vietnam.

The Philippine defense chief said Friday that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president.

Relations between the Chinese and US navies are their "best in history" and exchanges between the two will become more systematic in the future, China's military on Friday cited the country's naval chief as telling visiting US officers.

Reacting sharply to arch rival Japan joining the 'Malabar' naval exercises being held by the Indian and US navies in the Bay of Bengal, China on Monday said it is not "that fragile" to be affected by the trilateral drills.

The Philippines today began separate but simultaneous naval exercises with the United States and Japan, amid shared and growing concern at Chinese island-building in the disputed South China Sea.

China today said it has "taken note" of India's announcement that Australia will join the annual Malabar naval exercises along with the US and Japan, underlining that military cooperation should be "conducive" to regional peace and stability.

Asked about the most recent drilling, Vietnamese officials said their Chinese counterparts have started raising concerns about cooperation with both Repsol and ExxonMobil Corp. of the United States, which is developing the $10 billion "Blue Whale" gas concession off central Vietnam.

The Philippine defense chief said Friday that he told the U.S. military that plans for joint patrols and naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea have been put on hold, the first concrete break in defense cooperation after months of increasingly strident comments by the country's new president.

Relations between the Chinese and US navies are their "best in history" and exchanges between the two will become more systematic in the future, China's military on Friday cited the country's naval chief as telling visiting US officers.

Reacting sharply to arch rival Japan joining the 'Malabar' naval exercises being held by the Indian and US navies in the Bay of Bengal, China on Monday said it is not "that fragile" to be affected by the trilateral drills.

The Philippines today began separate but simultaneous naval exercises with the United States and Japan, amid shared and growing concern at Chinese island-building in the disputed South China Sea.