China Sea | American-Filipino exercise against an “invasion”

(Laoag) US and Philippine troops on Monday fired shells and missiles at an imaginary “invasion” force during exercises in the South China Sea, in the northern Philippines where the two countries recently accused China of ” dangerous and destabilizing driving”.

More than 16,700 American and Filipino soldiers are participating in these annual naval, land and air maneuvers organized until May 10 in an area where repeated incidents between Chinese and Filipino boats raise fears of a broader conflict.

American soldiers massed on the dunes of the northwest coast of the Philippines near the town of Laoag, 400 kilometers south of Taiwan, fired more than 50 155-millimeter shells at floating targets about five kilometers from the coast, noted AFP journalists.

Philippine troops followed up with rocket fire at the mock attackers, before both forces finished the exercise with machine guns, Javelin missiles and other artillery salvos.

The live ammunition exercise, called “Balikatan” (“Shoulder to Shoulder” in Tagalog, the Filipino language), aims to “prepare for the worst,” the commander of the First US Marine Expeditionary Force told reporters. , Michael Cederholm.

“It is designed to repel an invasion,” he added at the site of the exercise, which began on April 22 in several locations in the Philippines. “Our northwest flank is more exposed,” Philippine General Marvin Licudine, leading the exercise for the Philippine side, told AFP. “Because of regional problems, we have to train on our own soil from now on.”

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, an important trade route. It ignores an international arbitration which proved it wrong in 2016, and has hundreds of coast guard and navy vessels patrolling there.

Last week, Manila accused the Chinese coast guard of damaging a Philippine Coast Guard boat and another from the fisheries bureau by firing water cannons at it near the Scarborough Reef, controlled by China but claimed by the Philippines.

Exercises in the form of deterrence

These incidents raise fears of a broader conflict that could involve the United States, an ally of the Philippines, and other countries in the region, at a time when China is increasing its diplomatic and military pressure around Taiwan.

Last week, the defense ministers of the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia, following a meeting in the American archipelago of Hawaii, issued a joint statement denouncing the ” dangerous and destabilizing conduct” by Beijing in the South China Sea.

“China’s actions in the East and South China Seas are legitimate, legal and irreproachable,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry previously said on April 12.

Last week, US forces participating in Balikatan fired Himars precision rockets from the western island of Palawan, facing the also disputed Spratly Islands.

According to the US military, this was a rehearsal for the rapid deployment of the Himars system on the Philippine coast bordered by the South China Sea in order to “secure and protect the territory, territorial waters and interests of the area exclusive economy of the Philippines.

“Military exercises are a form of deterrence,” Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo said in a speech delivered on his behalf by an aide at a public workshop Friday. “The more we simulate, the less we act. »

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured Monday that his country did not intend to “increase tension” in the South China Sea.

“We will not follow the Chinese coast guard and Chinese ships on this path,” he said. “We do not intend to attack anyone with water cannons or any other offensive equipment,” he continued, adding that Manila will continue to exclusively use diplomatic channels to resolve disputes with Beijing.