US, Filipino forces stage combat drills on beach facing China in warning to aggressors

With assault weapons ready, US and Filipino marines sprang from amphibious vehicles and transport helicopters to defend an island from potential aggressors in a war exercise and show of American firepower staged on Thursday in the northern Philippines.

The exercise – held in far-flung Claveria town across the sea from China and Taiwan – fits into a strategy unveiled in February by the Biden administration to considerably broaden US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region by strengthening a web of security alliances and partnerships, with an emphasis on addressing China’s growing influence and ambitions.

Watched by invited journalists, the mock combat ended with the allied forces successfully securing the island before it could be seized by invaders in a clear warning to would-be aggressors in a region with multiple trouble spots.

“We should indeed improve our preparation for external aggression,” said Philippine regional military commander Major General Lawrence Mina, who spoke with reporters as the marines took combat positions on the sandy beach and a narrow trench under the scorching summer heat.

“It’s high time because we never know if we’ll get embroiled in the unfolding events that we’re hearing in the international scene,” he said. “At least we’re ready.”

The beach landing and coastal defence manoeuvres were part of one of the largest combat exercises in years between the long-time treaty allies that began Monday and would include live-fire drills, aircraft assaults, urban warfare and civic projects mostly in northern and the Western Philippines, which faces the disputed South China Sea.