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00:00 The US military has sent four of its naval destroyers to Alaska after spotting ships
00:04 from China and Russia, quote, "patrolling" near the Alaska coast.
00:08 A US Northern Command spokesperson says the ships were not considered a threat.
00:13 And Natasha Bertrand joining me now live from the Pentagon.
00:16 Natasha, what more can you tell us about the possible purpose of this patrol and if, indeed,
00:21 it did pose a threat to the US?
00:23 Yeah, Christina, this appears to have been an exercise.
00:26 And, of course, it is yet another example of the growing military partnership between
00:31 China and Russia.
00:32 And what happened was roughly 11 Russian and Chinese vessels were operating very close
00:38 to the coast of Alaska near the Aleutian Islands, according to the state senators Dan Sullivan
00:43 and Lisa Murkowski.
00:45 The US then chose to respond, sending four US Navy destroyers as well as planes to monitor
00:51 the situation and track those vessels' movements.
00:54 But ultimately, according to a spokesperson for US Northern Command, those ships did not
00:59 pose a threat to either the US or Canada.
01:02 And importantly, they stayed in international waters.
01:05 Now, the senators issued a statement that was a bit more concerned in its tone.
01:10 And they said that this is really an example of Russia and China showing authoritarian
01:14 aggression in the region.
01:16 And they said that they had received a number of classified briefings by US military officials
01:21 about the transit of these ships near Alaska.
01:25 Notably, this is not the first time that this has happened.
01:28 Russian and Chinese vessels also performed an exercise off the coast of Alaska last year
01:33 and were met by a US Coast Guard vessel that was just on a routine patrol.
01:37 So Dan Sullivan, who is one of those senators from Alaska, he did say that he appreciates
01:42 that the response this time around was a bit more robust, of course, sending those destroyers
01:47 as well as the reconnaissance aircraft to monitor the ship's activities.
01:50 But we should note that the Chinese embassy also released a statement telling CNN that
01:54 the activity there was not directed at any third party and had nothing to do with, quote,
02:00 the international or regional situation.
02:03 So obviously, they are trying to downplay it here.
02:06 The US reiterating the principle of freedom of navigation, emphasizing that they were
02:11 in international waters, an important point the US has to make here because the US, of
02:16 course, conducts these kinds of exercises off the coast of Russia and China as well.
02:20 Very routinely, Christina.
02:23 That's great context, Natasha Bertrand, live for us from the Pentagon.
02:26 Thank you.
02:27 And fresh military tensions in the South China Sea as well.
02:30 The Philippine government condemning China for taking what it calls aggressive action
02:35 against a Philippine ship on Saturday.
02:37 Manila has summoned the Chinese envoy in protest.
02:40 Mark Stewart has the story.
02:43 The Philippines is condemning China, accusing it of using a water cannon on one of its
02:48 vessels as a, quote, dangerous and illegal practice.
02:53 This video is from over the weekend showing a Chinese ship purportedly firing water at
02:58 the Filipino boat.
03:00 Smaller in size compared to the Chinese Coast Guard ship, the much smaller Philippine boat
03:05 was attempting to deliver supplies to a Philippine military installation in the South China Sea.
03:11 Some context.
03:12 These waters have been a source of tension between the two nations.
03:16 Beijing claims it as its own, yet Manila feels it has a right to.
03:20 A 2016 ruling from the Hague contends that Beijing has no legal basis to claim historic
03:26 rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.
03:29 China has ignored the ruling.
03:31 The incident has prompted the Philippines foreign minister to deliver a complaint letter
03:35 to the Chinese embassy on Monday.
03:37 The United States is showing support to the Philippines, reaffirming its mutual defense
03:42 treaty obligations.
03:44 Australia, Germany, and Japan have also weighed in, calling the Chinese actions dangerous
03:50 and destabilizing.
03:52 Mark Stewart, CNN, Tokyo.
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