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Activists protest against the US-Philippines ‘Balikatan’ military exercises, outside a military camp in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE
AsiaSoutheast Asia

US, Philippines follow Beijing’s Taiwan drills with their biggest military exercises in more than 30 years

  • The Balikatan exercises will focus on maritime security and live-fire training as the allies push back against China’s South China Sea activities
  • The size of the drills, with over 17,600 military personnel taking part, marks the culmination of US efforts to restore ties with the Philippines
The Philippines
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
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The United States and the Philippines kicked off the largest version of their flagship military exercise in more than 30 years on Tuesday, a high-profile display of their renewed alliance that comes just a day after mainland China concluded its own drills around Taiwan.
The annual Balikatan exercises will focus on developing maritime security and amphibious operations and will include live-fire training at a time the two nations are seeking to push back against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. The presence of more than 17,600 military personnel almost doubles last year’s level, according to the US embassy in Manila.
The size of the drills marks the culmination of US efforts to restore ties with the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, whose predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, often snubbed Washington in favour of Beijing. As the exercises get under way, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin will meet their Philippine counterparts in Washington on Tuesday, seeking to strengthen collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin (left) and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to meet their Philippine counterparts in Washington later on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE/Ukrainian Presidental Press Service Handout
The joint exercises come the same week Beijing held multiple drills near Taiwan after the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, returned from a visit to the US, where she met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other US lawmakers.
In addition, the guided missile destroyer USS Milius conducted “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea on Monday near the Spratly Islands, passing through waters claimed by Beijing.

Despite all that, the long-planned Balikatan exercises with the Philippines aren’t expected to provoke Beijing much, said Carl Schuster, a former operations director at US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Centre.

“It has a South China Sea angle and will raise tensions as a result but not to a dangerous or unusual degree,” he said, adding that the exercises are officially directed at improving Manila’s ability to defend its western territories. “Beijing is more focused on intimidating Taiwan and signalling to the US that it will not be easy to assist Taiwan in the event of a conflict.”

No room for ‘cold war mentality’ in China-Philippine relations: Wang Yi

Manila has vowed to pursue “collective defence” efforts with Washington around the South China Sea in a bid to counter a record number of Chinese incursions in disputed waters. As part of the rapprochement, the Philippines last week identified four new sites that the US will have access to under an expanded defence agreement, with three of them near Taiwan.

The new locations will bring the number of military sites the US can access in the Philippines to nine, including five existing ones, under the 2014 Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement. The pact allows the US to rotate its troops for prolonged stays as well as build and operate facilities on those bases in the Southeast Asian country.

Yet in a sign of how Marcos Jnr has to balance his nation’s ties to both Washington and Beijing – China is the Philippines’ biggest trading partner – he’s said the new sites the US will have access to can’t be used for offensive operations.
Most of the region is in ‘wait, watch and see mode’ ... They want the US to inhibit China’s behaviour but do not trust America’s willingness to do so over the long term
Carl Schuster, ex-operations director at US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Centre

China has criticised the plan regardless, with its embassy in Manila describing it as part of America’s attempt to “encircle and contain” the world’s second-biggest economy. Beijing asserts rights to more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea, whose other claimants are the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei.

But just because those nations have tensions with China over its vast claims doesn’t mean they are lining up behind the US.

“Most of the region is in ‘wait, watch and see mode’,” Schuster said. “They want the US to inhibit China’s behaviour but do not trust America’s willingness to do so over the long term. So, they are also trying to maintain good relations with both powers.”

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