MANILA, April 8 -- Philippine defense officials on Monday said two Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels were detected from a "distance" during the first multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) carried out by the Philippines, United States, Australia, and Japan in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In an interview with reporters, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., however, said there was no interference from the Chinese vessels during Sunday's MMCA.

"We were able to achieve all the objectives that we have set forth including the anti-submarine warfare exercise that we conducted," he added.

Some of the MMCA exercises included communication exercises, division tactics or officer of th...