MANILA, Philippines
Filipino and US forces began their annual joint military drills on Monday, segments of which will, for the first time, take place outside of the Philippines’ territorial waters following a string of maritime clashes between Manila and Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.
The exercises, known as
Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — will run up until May 10 and
involve over 16,000 military personnel, along with more than 250 Australian and
French forces.
For the first time since the
annual drills started over 30 years ago, the Philippines and the US will
conduct joint naval drills beyond the 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) of the
Philippines’ territorial waters, in parts of the open sea claimed by China.
“This exercise represents the
essence of unity, collective responsibility, and enduring partnership between
the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America and other
partners,” Philippines’ military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said during the
opening ceremony.
“It is not a partnership of
convenience but rather a clear reflection of our shared history, unwavering
commitment to democracy and respect for international law in our pursuit of
peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Throughout the three-week
exercise, soldiers from the two militaries will operate out of a joint command
center to perform four major activities with a focus on countering maritime,
air, land, and cyber attacks.
“It’s the first time that we
are going beyond our (12) nautical miles,” Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine,
Philippines exercise director, told reporters.
The Balikatan training
operations are not directed at a particular country, he said, but are more
focused on the “development of interoperability,” with an increased complexity
of the drills and scenarios to let soldiers learn more from one another.
The joint exercises take place
as Philippine and Chinese coast guard and other vessels have featured in a
series of increasingly tense territorial face-offs since last year, including
Chinese use of water cannons against a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea
last month, causing damage and injuries.
After the incident, Philippine
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his government would take countermeasures
against “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks” by the Chinese
Coast Guard.
“We seek no conflict with any
nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will
not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience,” Marcos had said in a
statement.
The Philippines and China,
along with several other countries, have overlapping claims in the
resource-rich waterway, where a bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.
Beijing has been increasing
its military activity over the past few years, with the Chinese Coast Guard
regularly encroaching on the Philippine part of the waters, the West Philippine
Sea, despite a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague dismissing
China’s expansive claims.
Don McLain Gill, an
international studies lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, said the
scope of this year’s Balikatan is a “clear reflection of Manila’s commitment to
exercise its sovereignty and sovereign rights within its exclusive economic zone.
“This year ’s exercise will
also involve complex maritime security issues such as simulations of recovering
islands from hostile forces, which add a practical dimension to collective self
defense efforts by the like-minded partners,” he told Arab News.
“Clearly, securing the WPS
based on international law will not bode well for China’s expansionist
interests. While the Balikatan is aimed at improving joint preparedness amidst
emerging challenges in the region, the challenge posed by China's expansionism
is clearly one of the critical factors that provoke regional security.”
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