A RANKING United States Navy official said multinational naval drills can help deter China's aggressive moves in the South China Sea.

Speaking Monday on the sidelines of the opening of Samasama 2023, an eight-nation training exercise, at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila, Vice Admiral Carl Thomas, commander of the US Navy's 7th Fleet, said 'having a strong team that will operate together as a group of navies, that can't do nothing but to strengthen the deterrence to maintain the peace, that's all we want. We want a peaceful co-existence in this part of the world.'