On Thursday in Manila, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that U.S. Navy ships have started patrolling the South China Sea alongside the Philippines, in unusual joint military exercises. The U.S. is keeping 300 troops in the Philippines through the end of April, along with attack helicopters and other combat aircraft, Carter said in a joint news conference with Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmi, and similar U.S. military contingents will cycle through the Philippines after this group leaves.
China has been expanding its own military presence in the South China Sea, roiling other Asian countries with competing claims to the body of water. The Philippines is especially concerned about the Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing area that China took over in 2012. Carter said that the U.S. isn't trying to provoke China, adding, "We're trying to tamp down tensions here." But Gazmi said the U.S. military "presence here will deter uncalled-for actions by the Chinese."
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