The largest joint military exercises between the United States and the Philippines began yesterday. The maneuvers consolidate the renewed military alliance between both allies amid escalating tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
The annual exercises, called Balikatan ("shoulder to shoulder"), will bring together more than 17,000 troops this year (12,000 US troops and 5,000 from the Philippines), nearly double the number in 2022, and will include live missile fire for the first time Patriot and Avengers defense systems. The maneuvers will end on April 27, according to a spokesman for the Philippine army.
In addition, the source added, Himars missiles will be fired at an unused fishery in Zambales province, northwest of the archipelago and near Baix del Masinloc, an atoll located in Philippine territorial waters that China invading in 2012 as part of its “historical claims” in the South China Sea, which the Philippines calls the South Sea.
"The culmination of the maneuvers will be the combined live-fire exercise, which aims to rehearse joint and combined tactical techniques and procedures to execute a maritime attack," said Major General Marvin Licudin, director of the maneuvers. , in a speech at the opening ceremony.
Maj. Gen. Eric Austin, acting director of US maneuvers, noted that the Balikatan exercises will ensure that both countries are "prepared to respond together to real-world challenges." This Balikatan, notably larger in troops, military deployment and actual firepower, puts the icing on the cake for the strengthened military alliance between Washington and Manila to curb China's expansionist ambitions in the sea that Beijing almost completely claims, and in Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as its own territory, while the democratically governed island claims its autonomy.
Last week, the Philippines announced four new military bases in the archipelago that US troops will have access to (bringing the total to nine), one in the northernmost part of the archipelago , about 400 kilometers from Taiwan, and the other is on the island of Balabac, near the islands that Beijing and Manila dispute in the South China Sea.
Precisely there, near the Spratly archipelago, the United States destroyer USS Milius sailed there on Monday, an action that China condemned, claiming that Beijing has "indisputable sovereignty" over the islands and their adjacent waters. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the maneuvers "must not interfere with South China Sea disputes, let alone harm China's territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests, and security interests." China".
The US show of force coincides with Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan that in recent days simulated a blockade of the self-governing island, whose sovereignty is claimed by Beijing, in retaliation for last Wednesday's meeting in California between Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
Relations between the United States and the Philippines have strengthened considerably under the presidency of Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, who in February granted Washington more access to his country's military bases.
Likewise, on Tuesday the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, planned to meet with members of the Philippine Government in Washington to discuss the growing tension in the South China Sea before the next visit to Vietnam and Japan.
