(CC)China's largest naval training ship sailed for the Philippines on Friday, its last stop of a regional "friendly" tour, amid growing unease over Chinese maritime activities in the South China Sea. At the end of its trip, Qijiguang and its crew of 476 navy students and officers would have passed through the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, Gulf of Thailand and West Pacific. The visit also comes immediately after the first-ever trilateral coast guard exercise involving the Philippines, Japan and the United States that ended on Wednesday. The Philippines has ramped up its military ties with the United States this year, conducting more drills and even allowing U.S. access to local military bases. On May 23-25, the training vessel made port in Vietnam, overlapping with the sailing of a Chinese research ship in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from May 7-June 6.
