US-Philippines Balikatan joint drill kicks off soon after Beijing’s military exercises around Taiwan

Name: US and Philippines hold largest military drills in decades amid regional tensions
Uploaded: 2023-04-11T12:00:16.000Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: US and Philippines hold largest military drills in decades amid regional tensions

South China Sea among sites for exercises to improve maritime security, amphibious operations, live-fire training, cyberdefence and counterterrorism

Experts say Beijing will not respond excessively to the drills, especially to the Philippines, to prevent pushing Manila further towards the US

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The US and the Philippines have agreed to hold more small and major combat exercises in 2023 and expand annual military drills, according to Philippine military officials. Photo: AP Photo

Zhao Ziwen

Published: 8:00pm, 11 Apr 2023Updated: 11:23am, 12 Apr 2023

The US and the Philippines kicked off their largest joint drill in decades on Tuesday soon after Beijing concluded its own war games around Taiwan.

Experts said China would not respond excessively to the drills, especially with regards to the Philippines, to prevent pushing it further away.

An estimated 17,000 military personnel will join the exercise named Balikatan, meaning “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog – more than double the number of personnel who took part in a drill last year, the US embassy in the Philippines said.

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US and Philippines hold largest military drills in decades amid regional tensions

Balikatan will include a live-fire exercise on a sunken ship in the South China Sea. The statement said the drills would “improve capability” in the arenas of maritime security, amphibious operations, live-fire training, urban and aviation operations, cyberdefence, counterterrorism, humanitarian help and disaster preparedness.

On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: “The US-Philippine military cooperation must not interfere with disputes in the South China Sea, let alone harm China’s territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests, and security interests.”

Wang said exchanges and cooperation between the countries concerned should not target third parties and “should be dedicated to regional peace and stability, not the other way around”.

The annual joint drill is in the spotlight, coming immediately after Beijing completed its three-day combat exercises around Taiwan as a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the US and Tsai’s meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.