MANILA, Philippines (Washington Insider Magazine)– In preparation for any unforeseen crisis in a region that has been on edge due to territorial disputes in the South China Sea and rising tensions over Taiwan, more than 2,500 marines from the United States and the Philippines participated in military exercises on Monday.
According to military authorities, the yearly military exercises are the first such drill between the old treaty partners under recently elected Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. His predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, was a vocal opponent of American security strategies and opposed joint military drills with American soldiers because he believed they may anger China.
According to U.S. and Philippine military authorities, the exercises, known as Kamandag, which is Tagalog for “Cooperation of the Warriors of the Sea,” include 1,900 U.S. Marines and over 600 primarily Philippine counterparts in simulated amphibious attacks and special operations. The HIMARS missile launchers and supersonic fighter planes of the United States will engage in live-fire exercises that will go until October 14, according to ABC NEWS.
The venues include the northern Philippines, across the Luzon Strait from Taiwan, and the western island province of Palawan, which faces the South China Sea.
The drills, according to Philippine Rear Admiral Caesar Bernard Valencia, would concentrate on bolstering coastal defenses and are not targeted at any one nation.
He claimed that the South Korean and Japanese military will take part in disaster response drills as observers but may also participate.
Around 3,000 armed personnel from the two sides are participating in the military exercises, which are taking place simultaneously with combat drills between the Japanese army and U.S. Marines forces on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, according to U.S. military officials.
The simultaneous exercises, according to U.S. Maj. Gen. Jay Bargeron of the 3rd Marine Division stationed in Japan, is intended to strengthen the defense capacities of the U.S. alliances with Japan and the Philippines “through realistic combined training.”
In July, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken urged China to abide by a 2016 arbitration decision that invalidated Beijing’s expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea and cautioned that if Filipino forces, aircraft, or vessels are attacked in the disputed waters, the United States is obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
After the Philippine authorities complained in 2013 about China’s acquisition of a shoal off its northwest coast, an arbitration tribunal established in The Hague in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea rendered the decision. China refused to take part, denounced the arbitration ruling as a sham, and has since continued to challenge it.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam also have conflicting claims in the busy waterway, which is thought to be rich in underwater oil and gas resources and through which an estimated $5 trillion in goods travel annually.
Separately, Chinese protests were sparked when US President Joe Biden declared last month that US soldiers would protect Taiwan if Beijing attempted to attack the sovereign island.
Long-running maritime disputes and poor ties between Taiwan and China have emerged as major fronts in the U.S.-China conflict.