The United States, China and Australia will conduct a joint military exercise in September in an effort to ease the maritime tension in South China Sea.
The development came even as Australia and the US joined the calls for China to accept an international arbitration ruling in a case filed by the Philippines in its dispute with China in the South China Sea.
Dubbed as "Exercise Kowari 2016", the three-nation military drill will be conducted in Darwin, Australia on Sept. 1-11.
In a statement at the state-run China Daily, Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said the move is aimed at sharing readiness to bring the trilateral security relationship forward.
Wu said the drill will involve joint maritime defense actions from among the three nations.
The war exercise will happen amid new tension in South China Sea from among claimant nations.
This after China prevented fishermen from other nations from entering into the rich fishing grounds of the disputed seawaters.
Apart from China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims to the South China Sea, a key shipping lane rich in mineral and marine resources.
