The armed forces of the United States and the Philippines will conduct their first full-scale combat test, practicing joint operations in potentially conflict-ridden regions such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. About this informs Financial Times.
“Balikatan” training will start on April 21. During the maneuvers, the military will practice scenarios for directing missiles at enemy ships from the shore and defending the islands from a potential invasion.
“We will demonstrate not only our will to uphold the Mutual Defense Treaty, which has existed since 1951, but also our unparalleled ability to do so.”, said Lt. Gen. James Glynn during the opening ceremony in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
The exercises demonstrate the growing focus of the US on the Indo-Pacific region, despite concerns over the unpredictability of President Donald Trump’s policies.
“I don’t see a big difference in the US position from Trump and Biden in terms of the US strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, which is to maintain peace and stability here.”, – emphasized Vincent Chao, a Taiwanese politician and former representative of Taiwan’s quasi-embassy in Washington.
The name of the exercise “Balikatan”, which means “side by side” in Filipino, symbolizes the close cooperation between the two countries. Relations intensified after the election of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2022, who departed from the pro-Russian and pro-China policies of his predecessor.
Last year, the northernmost territory of the country, Batanes, which borders Taiwan, was involved in the exercises for the first time. There, American and Filipino marines worked out the scenario of liberating a strategically important island captured by a hypothetical enemy.
