Manila: To promote freedom of navigation and adherence to international law in the contentious South China Sea, the European Union wants to increase its naval visits and possibly conduct joint military training exercises, an EU official said on Wednesday.

As tensions between China and its smaller neighbours in the disputed waterway rise, Richard Tibbels, the EU's special envoy for the Indo-Pacific region, said the 27-nation bloc is also prepared to provide satellite surveillance to help nations like the Philippines respond to natural disasters and protect their interests.

The outreach is a component of a 2021 EU strategy to concentrate its efforts in the Indo-Pacific to support regional security amid more ferocious geopolitical competition. According to Tibbels, the commitment to respecting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law would be a cornerstone of the long-term engagement.

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In an interview with The Associated Press in Manila, where he met with Philippine foreign, defence, and coast guard officials, Tibbels said, "We really have a strong interest in making sure that freedom of navigation and overflight continues and that the global trading system is not affected by increasing tensions in the region. The stability of the South China Sea is crucial because it is the route for about 40% of EU exports.

We will be trying to step up our naval presence," Tibbels said, when asked what steps the EU was prepared to take to help uphold freedom of mobility and international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, in the disputed waters.

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In recent years, a few European nations, including Germany, have stationed warships in the area.

If it is possible, we will try to coordinate and encourage our member states to continue such naval visits and joint exercises, the official said. Given the capabilities of the member states of the bloc, such deployments would be "relatively modest," but they could be carried out frequently, he said.

Beijing has been incensed by the US military's deployment of aircraft carriers, warships, and fighter jets for routine patrols that contest China's sweeping territorial claims.

In the northwest Indian Ocean, a similar coordinated EU naval presence has been set up to support freedom of navigation and thwart pirate attacks on commercial shipping. Future eastward expansion of the effort could bring it closer to Asia "as member states' naval capacities permit," Tibbels said.

Tibbels reaffirmed EU support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' initiatives to talk with China about "an acceptable code of conduct" in order to stop the long-simmering territorial disputes from turning into armed conflicts.

The South China Sea, which straddles some of the busiest sea lanes in the world and is thought to be sitting atop sizeable undersea oil and gas deposits, has long been the scene of a tense territorial standoff between China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei, as well as other ASEAN members China and Taiwan.

Concerns about tensions between China and Taiwan were also addressed by Tibbels, who noted that the EU has consistently issued warnings about the severe disruption to the global trading system, including to China, if events in the Taiwan Strait spiral out of control.

Taiwan is considered to be part of China, which reserves the right to annexe it if necessary. Top US officials have urged increased readiness, stating in memos and congressional testimony that China sees a narrowing window as an opportunity.

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We are conversing with our allies. We need to be ready. There is a lot of work being done behind the scenes to determine what would need to be done in the event of rising tensions, Tibbels said.

"But I think you can obviously count on the reaction of like-minded partners being robust should untoward developments happen," Tibbels said without going into further detail.