Description: The US Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group deployed from San Diego on a joint naval exercise with the Philippine marine forces in the South China Sea. Both countries have committed serious naval resources in a close cooperation exercise aimed to strengthen allied presence in the tense South China Sea region. The exercise comes at a time when China reinforces their regional maritime presence through their coast guard forces which operated within Philippines maritime zone. Before joining the Philippine navy, US Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group conducted trilateral maritime exercises with allied navy forces from Japan, Australia and South Korea, bolstering regional presence.
Impact: With severely elevated tensions in the Indo – Pacific, the US under the new administration would aim towards significantly larger amount of naval and military presence in the region. China has no significant naval support in the disputed maritime region however, they are expected to also enhance their naval capabilities as international relations with the US under the Trump administration go into unchartered territory. Except for increased level of naval exercises, tensions in the region are expected to remain constant as the looming threat of an armed conflict is unexpectedly real.