TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Five countries including Japan, the U.S. and the Philippines held a joint maritime exercise in the South China Sea, as tensions with China remain high in the region, Japan's Defense Ministry said Saturday.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Sazanami took part in the drill, the ministry said, three days after it became the first SDF ship to sail through the Taiwan Strait, along with vessels from Australia and New Zealand, according to sources familiar with the matter.
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