Philippines, US, Australia, Japan, New Zealand to hold joint maritime activity in South China Sea

On Wednesday, naval vessels from New Zealand and Australia sailed through the Taiwan Strait, part of the South China Sea, a move Australia’s Department of Defence said showed the country’s commitment to an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait.

Both the US and Taiwan say the strait – a major trade route through which about half of global container ships pass – is an international waterway.

Australia has “consistently pressed China on peace and stability in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait”, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday.

“We have welcomed the resumption of leader and military level dialogue between the US and China,” Wong said, according to a transcript.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite overlapping maritime claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, angering its neighbours.