Japan, U.S., Australia, Philippines hold drill in South China Sea

The Philippines' military said late Sunday it held a joint maritime exercise with Japan, the United States and Australia in the South China Sea, leading China to launch a naval and air patrol in response.The four-nation drill held Sunday within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone demonstrated the countries' "commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific through interoperability exercises in the maritime domain," the Philippines' armed forces said.In a joint statement issued a day before the exercise, the four countries said t…READ FULL ARTICLE