Top News

Ruler of Sharjah approves Dhs600 million to develop industrial areas in Sharjah

Ruler of Sharjah approves Dhs600 million to develop industrial areas in Sharjah

‘Animal-Violence & Sex’: A cinematic brilliance or crossing the line?

‘Animal-Violence & Sex’: A cinematic brilliance or crossing the line?

ADVERTISEMENT

Popular News

  • Iqrar-ul-Hassan’s third marriage confirmed by new wife on Instagram

    Iqrar-ul-Hassan’s third marriage confirmed by new wife on Instagram

    702 shares
    Share 281 Tweet 176
  • Major (R) Adil Raja arrested in London

    534 shares
    Share 214 Tweet 134
  • Three top professionals from Software firm, PureLogics, lost their lives in a tragic road accident

    2086 shares
    Share 834 Tweet 522
  • Punjab government bans Qingqi Rickshaws across the province

    525 shares
    Share 210 Tweet 131
  • VIDEO: Pakistani woman Javeria arrives India to marry her fiancé

    521 shares
    Share 208 Tweet 130

Latest News

  • Rauf Klasra: ‘Mad-e-Muqabil with RK’ has ended at Talon News
  • Meta’s latest update brings default end-to-end encryption to facebook and messenger
  • Apple to launch faster MacBook Air and dual iPad Airs early next year
  • Deep fake video of Priyanka Chopra circulating online sparks concern
  • Starbucks’ stock experiences 11 days of continuous decline
ADVERTISEMENT
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, December 7, 2023
  • Login
Media Bites
  • Home
  • TOP NEWS
  • NEW JOININGS
  • BUSINESS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • WORLD
  • MEDIA
  • PAKISTAN
  • SPORTS
No Result
View All Result
Media Bites
Home TOP NEWS

US and Philippines hold Joint Military Exercises in disputed South China Sea Region

Crisis in the south China sea region

US and Philippines Joint Military Exercises
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Whatsapp

MANILA, Philippines — American and Filipino forces on Tuesday launched their largest combat exercises in decades in the Philippines and its waters across the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where Washington has repeatedly warned China over its increasingly aggressive actions.

The annual drills by the longtime treaty allies called Balikatan — Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — will run up to April 28 and involve more than 17,600 military personnel. It will be the latest display of American firepower in Asia, as the Biden administration strengthens an arc of alliances to better counter China, including in a possible confrontation over Taiwan, an island democracy that Beijing claims as its own.

That dovetails with efforts by the Philippines under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, by boosting joint military exercises with the U.S. and allowing rotating batches of American forces to stay in additional Philippine military camps under a 2014 defense pact.

“The relationships that we have, that we build into these exercises, will make us faster to respond to conflict, crisis, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Eric Austin said.

About 12,200 U.S military personnel, 5,400 Filipino forces and 111 Australian counterparts are taking part in the exercises, the largest since Balikatan started three decades ago. The drills will showcase U.S. warships, fighter jets as well as Patriot missiles, HIMARS rocket launchers and anti-tank Javelins, according to U.S. and Philippine military officials.

In a live-fire drill the allies will stage for the first time, U.S. and Filipino forces will sink a target ship in the Philippine territorial waters off the western province of Zambales on April 26, in a coordinated inland and coastal artillery bombardment and airstrike, Col. Michael Logico, a Philippine spokesman for Balikatan, told reporters.

“We have to fire at a target that is closer to what we would expect in an actual threat, which is an intrusion coming from an adversary by sea,” Logico told reporters. “We are demonstrating that we are combat ready.”

Asked if Marcos raised any concern that Beijing may be antagonized by the rocket-firing near the busy waterway that China considers its territory, Logico said that did not come up when he briefed the president about the event. Marcos wants to witness the live-fire drill, he said.

In western Palawan province, which faces the South China Sea, the exercises will involve retaking an island captured by enemy forces, Logico said.

Philippine military officials said the maneuvers were aimed at bolstering the country’s coastal defense and disaster-response capabilities and were not aimed at any country.

US and Philippines hold Joint Military Exercises

Such field scenarios will “test the allies’ capabilities in combined arms live-fire, information and intelligence sharing, communications between maneuver units, logistics operations, amphibious operations,” the U.S. Embassy in Manila said.

In a sign of deeping defense cooperation, the Philippine foreign and defense secretaries will meet their American counterparts in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the American military presence and proposed joint naval patrols, officials said.

Washington and Beijing have been on a collision course over the long-seething territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines and four other governments, and Beijing’s goal of annexing Taiwan, by force if necessary.

China last week warned against the intensifying U.S. military deployment to the region. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular news briefing in Beijing that it “would only lead to more tensions and less peace and stability in the region.”

The Balikatan exercises opened in the Philippines a day after China concluded three days of combat drills that simulated sealing off Taiwan, following Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week in California that infuriated Beijing.

On Monday, the U.S. 7th Fleet deployed guided-missile destroyer USS Milius within 12 nautical miles off Mischief Reef, a Manila-claimed coral outcrop which China seized in the mid-1990s and turned into one of seven missile-protected island bases in the South China Sea’s hotly contested Spratlys archipelago. The U.S. military has been undertaking such freedom of navigation operations for years to challenge China’s expansive territorial claims.

“As long as some countries continue to claim and assert limits on rights that exceed their authority under international law, the United States will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of the sea guaranteed to all,” the 7th Fleet said.

Source: AP
Share344Tweet215Send
Web Desk

Web Desk

Related Posts

Starbucks’ stock experiences 11 days of continuous decline

Starbucks’ stock experiences 11 days of continuous decline

Starbucks Corp. is grappling with an unprecedented streak of losses, causing investor worry as the coffee giant experiences its longest...

Ruler of Sharjah approves Dhs600 million to develop industrial areas in Sharjah

Ruler of Sharjah approves Dhs600 million to develop industrial areas in Sharjah

Sharjah Ruler, His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, the Supreme Council Member, has given his approval for...

‘Animal-Violence & Sex’: A cinematic brilliance or crossing the line?

‘Animal-Violence & Sex’: A cinematic brilliance or crossing the line?

The release of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's latest venture, 'Animal,' has once again ignited a heated conversation about the fine line...

VIDEO: Pakistani woman Javeria arrives India to marry her fiancé

VIDEO: Pakistani woman Javeria arrives India to marry her fiancé

Javeria, a woman from Karachi, has arrived in the Indian city of Kolkata to marry her Indian fiancé. According to...

Latest News

  • Rauf Klasra: ‘Mad-e-Muqabil with RK’ has ended at Talon News
  • Meta’s latest update brings default end-to-end encryption to facebook and messenger
  • Apple to launch faster MacBook Air and dual iPad Airs early next year
  • Deep fake video of Priyanka Chopra circulating online sparks concern
  • Starbucks’ stock experiences 11 days of continuous decline
ADVERTISEMENT
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate
Media Bites

Copyright © 2013 MediaBites.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • TOP NEWS
  • NEW JOININGS
  • BUSINESS
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • WORLD
  • MEDIA
  • PAKISTAN
  • SPORTS

Copyright © 2013 MediaBites.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In