Philippines ‘retakes’ an island in disputed sea in mock combat

• Philippine forces practised retaking an island in the South China Sea in the first such combat exercise in the disputed waters as Chinese Navy ships kept watch from a distance, the Philippine military chief said.
• Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., who witnessed the drills from a navy frigate, said the exercise underscored the readiness of Filipino forces to defend the country’s sovereignty at all costs.
• “We are warning our neighbours or whoever or any external forces that we are capable of defending our islands,” Mr. Brawner told a small group of presspersons invited to the combat exercises.
• There were no immediate comments from Chinese officials, but they have opposed past war drills in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.
• The long-seething territorial disputes that also involve other claimants are a delicate fault line in the U.S.-China rivalry in Asia and likely will remain a major foreign policy concern for the next American President.

In the drills, a Philippine navy frigate approached Loaita Island, which the Philippines calls Kota Island, while four speedboats with marines and navy sailors landed on its beach.