The Philippine Navy monitored two Chinese warships in the general vicinity of the Bajo de Masinloc during the war games with naval forces from the United States, Australia and Canada.

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the two warships were from the People’s Liberation Army-Navy and were spotted around 40 nautical miles southeast of the Panatag Shoal.

Based on the monitoring, one of the warships was a Luyang Class Guided Missile Destroyer while the other one was a Jiangkai Class Frigate.

“These ships were monitored during the conduct of the 10th MMCA (Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity) involving the US Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Australian Navy and the Philippine Navy,” said Trinidad.

“They were observed following the international task group and were not conducting any surface serials or synchronized movement that would generally indicate a joint patrol contrary to publications by the Southern Theater Command,” he added.

The 10th MMCA was held from Sept. 2 to 3 in the West Philippine Sea.

The war games include anti-submarine warfare exercise, Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP) to test at-sea logistics and resupply operations, a Personnel Exchange conducted via RHIB that enabled Australian and Philippine sailors to share best practices onboard, and a Passing Exercise (PASSEX) for seamless coordination and interoperability of all participating forces.

Trinidad said the Chinese warships’ presence in the area is part of China’s malign influence operations to justify what he described as illegal presence in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.