Philippines, United States, Japan and Australia prepare joint naval exercises. These maneuvers should take place in a context marked by significant regional tensions, especially between Manila and Beijing in recent times.
China actually claims almost the entire South China Sea. If these naval exercises take place this weekend, they will occur a few days before a planned summit in Washington between US President Joe Biden, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague declared that the Chinese claims had no legal basis.