Philippines, U.S. launch joint military drills
US and Philippine soldiers salute during the national anthems at the opening ceremony of the Balikatan annual joint military exercise
By Pam CASTRO
The Philippine and U.S. militaries on Monday kicked off three weeks of joint exercises that will simulate a "full-scale battle scenario", as the two allies seek to deter Beijing's ambitions in the disputed South China Sea.
As many as 17,000 personnel are expected to take part in the annual "Balikatan", or "shoulder to shoulder" drills, which for the first time will include an integrated air and missile defense simulation, to be attended by President Ferdinand Marcos.
Sophisticated U.S. weapons including the NMESIS anti-ship missile system will also be deployed, including near a crucial chokepoint in the waters separating the northern Philippines from self-ruled Taiwan.
"We will demonstrate not just our will to uphold our mutual defense treaty in existence since 1951 but our matchless capability to do so," U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Glynn said at Monday's opening ceremony in Manila.
"Nothing builds bonds more quickly than shared adversity," he said, without specifying a common threat.
Philippines Major General Francisco Lorenzo added that the 40th Balikatan exercises would reinforce the country's ability to address "contemporary security challenges".
The Philippines has been engaged in months of confrontations with Beijing over disputed areas of the South China Sea.
It has steadily deepened defense cooperation with treaty ally the United States since Marcos took office in 2022 and began pushing back on China's sweeping claims to the crucial waterway.
During a recent visit to Manila, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Washington was "doubling down" on the alliance.
"Deterrence is necessary around the world, but specifically in this region, in your country -- considering the threats from the Communist Chinese," he said in late March.
In response to the drills, Beijing accused Manila of "collusion with countries outside the region".
The exercises "undermine regional strategic stability", said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.
"This has already aroused strong aversion and opposition from regional countries," he said.
Last year's Balikatan featured tests of the U.S. Typhon mid-range missile system.
The Philippine Army subsequently said it was planning to acquire the Typhon, sparking warnings from China of a regional "arms race".
On Monday, Glynn said the Typhon system would again be present, along with the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, a short-range platform specializing in knocking out drones.
The Philippines' Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner said last month that Manila was seeking to upgrade its arsenal, with more missile systems, warships and fighter jets.
On April 2, the United States said it had approved the possible sale of $5.58 billion in long-coveted F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines, though Manila said the deal was "still in the negotiation phase".
A week later, the Philippines took possession of the first of two corvette-class warships with "advanced weapons and radar systems" acquired in a deal with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries.
China considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory and has vowed to bring it under Beijing's control one day.
Given the Philippines' proximity to Taiwan and its surrounding waters, Manila's cooperation would be crucial in the event of any U.S. conflict with China.
On April 1, as Chinese ships and warplanes surrounded the self-ruled island in a simulated blockade, Brawner said his country would "inevitably" be involved should the democracy be invaded.
While Manila later said Brawner's comments were primarily referencing efforts to retrieve Filipino workers in Taiwan, its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Washington gives U.S. forces access to nine bases in the Philippines.
Asked about Taiwan on Monday, Lorenzo said Balikatan could potentially "help deter" a conflict over the island.
Both the U.S. and Philippine militaries, however, stressed that this year's war games would not address a potential Chinese invasion.
Besides the United States, countries including Australia and Japan are sending smaller contingents to Balikatan.
© 2025 AFP
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Japan Times
02-06-2025
- Japan Times
Philippines vague on U.S. missile deployments, but clear on one thing
The Philippines has taken a deliberately vague tack about deploying powerful U.S. weapons on its territory that could put nearby Chinese forces at risk — but Manila is clear about one thing: It has already secured the funds to buy its own midrange missiles. Asked whether Manila is planning to keep or purchase some of the advanced U.S. weapon systems deployed for this year's Balikatan military exercises, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told The Japan Times that the country would maintain a policy of 'strategic ambiguity' on the matter. Strategic ambiguity, which is employed by both the U.S. in its policy toward Taiwan and France in its nuclear weapons strategy, is the practice of being intentionally unclear about a policy, strategy or position, creating uncertainty to either gain an advantage or deter potential adversaries without making explicit commitments. In the case of the Philippines, Teodoro said he would follow such an approach with regard to the advanced Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) and Typhon U.S. missile systems. Both have been deployed to the Southeast Asian nation, triggering a backlash from Beijing, which has repeatedly called for them to be removed, arguing that the Typhon, in particular, is a 'strategic' and 'offensive' system. Manila has said that the deployment of a Typhon-like system, which can fire both Tomahawk long-range cruise missiles and SM-6 air defense missiles, is not meant for offensive purposes. While Philippine officials have indicated the Typhon would stay in the country indefinitely after being deployed for joint exercises last year, no such statement has been made about whether the NMESIS anti-ship weapon will remain on the island of Batanes, between the Philippines' Luzon island and Taiwan, where it was used in this year's Balikatan exercises. Imagery released by the U.S. military indicates that the NMESIS system was still there as of Sunday, as a part of separate military exercises. The U.S. military's Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) is deployed during joint military exercises with Philippine forces on the Philippine island of Batanes on May 25. | U.S. MARINE CORPS This suggests that China's repeated calls to remove these systems are unlikely to be heeded anytime soon, as Manila not only trains its soldiers on the Typhon launcher but also plans to acquire its own midrange system. 'The definite thing is that we do need capabilities of such sort, and they are already part of our shopping list,' Teodoro said in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore over the weekend. Manila, he added, already has the necessary funding to acquire its own midrange capability (MRC). 'We do have the funding because, on a cost basis, it's much cheaper than the rest of the items in our Re-Horizon 3 program,' he said. Last year, Manila approved a revised military upgrade initiative called Re-Horizon 3 that will reportedly see the country spend up to 2 trillion Philippine pesos ($35 billion) over the next decade. The move, the third and final stage of a plan that started in 2013 in response to Chinese activities in the South China Sea, is focused on acquiring items such as more ships, aircraft, weapons and radar systems. 'We are actively looking for it (the MRC),' the defense secretary said, noting that the purchase of such a modern system would require 'different levels of approval,' especially should Manila opt for the Typhon, which the U.S. has yet to sell to another country. Teodoro's remarks come as a dispute over the South China Sea between China and the Philippines has turned particularly heated, with the resource-rich waters now the scene of regular ship collisions and rammings. As new flashpoints, such as Sandy Cay, emerge in the waterway, Beijing has also stepped up its presence by deploying not only its coast guard but also military vessels and aircraft in a show of force that Teodoro likened to a mixed martial arts move to force an opponent to surrender. 'They're trying to gaslight the Philippines and coerce us into recognizing them or making us work to resolve a dispute under their rules, and I think it's just like a submission hold in MMA,' Teodoro said. While Beijing 'doesn't have a chokehold yet, they're slowly trying to get there,' he added. 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The county's modernization push also includes increasing the sophistication of its asymmetric arsenal as well as its unmanned platforms and cybersystems along with enhancing the Philippine forces' maritime and air domain awareness. But help is already on its way. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (left) shakes hands with Philippines defense chief Gilberto Teodoro before a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Friday. | AFP-JIJI On Saturday, the defense chiefs of 'the Squad' grouping, which brings together Japan, Australia, the U.S. and the Philippines, agreed to expand the scope and frequency of South China Sea maritime patrols with more like-minded partners, while further synchronizing defense investments in the Philippines and boosting its cybersecurity capabilities. They also agreed to explore planning joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities in the East and South China seas as they ramp up information-sharing in an effort to establish "a common operating picture" in the region. Teodoro said the grouping has made 'much progress' since it was formed in 2023, signaling its expansion — possibly to include countries such as India and New Zealand — would be something the Philippines welcomes. 'I think the Squad is an open-architecture security grouping based on a common thread,' he said. 'I can't speak for the others, but my feeling is that it is open to those that are aligned with the common goals and those with Philippine goals, as the grouping is centered on Philippine resilience.' 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Japan Times
27-05-2025
- Japan Times
As ASEAN touts unity, Philippines seeks consensus on South China Sea
The Philippines has called on ASEAN nations to wrap up negotiations on a code of conduct in the disputed South China Sea, a move experts say reflects Manila's growing frustration with Beijing's attempts to exploit the Southeast Asian bloc's diverging priorities as well its consensus-based model for decision-making. Speaking at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summit in Kuala Lumpur that touted bloc unity, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday underscored the 'urgent need' to accelerate the adoption of a 'legally binding' code to safeguard maritime rights and prevent 'miscalculations at sea.' Manila's call on the 10-member bloc comes as the situation between China and the Philippines has turned particularly tense, with the resource-rich waters now being the scene of regular ship collisions and rammings, and as the Chinese side repeatedly deploys flares and water cannons. 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A China Coast Guard ship (left) fires a water cannon at a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ship (center) near Sandy Cay reef in the disputed South China Sea in this screen shot from video taken on May 21. | Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and Philippine Coast Guard / VIA AFP-JIJI Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said that Manila is targeting 2026 for the code's completion, when it takes over the rotating ASEAN chairmanship from Malaysia. The top Philippine diplomat, who is set to visit Tokyo on Wednesday, also said that Manila is open to more arrangements with Beijing to help maintain peace in the strategic waterway. But concerns remain. There have already been calls in the past for an expedited conclusion, none of which have panned out. Experts say that, given the diverging interests within ASEAN — as well as the close ties of Cambodia and Laos to China — the 2026 deadline may not be feasible. 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Philippine coast guard and military personnel hold the country's flag during an inter-agency maritime operation on Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea on April 27. | National Task Force on West Philippine Sea / VIA AFP-JIJI The latter is important as individual Southeast Asian governments have a strong record of handling disputes on a bilateral basis, albeit not through ASEAN. Vietnam and Indonesia, for instance, recently moved forward on a maritime delimitation agreement. It's a different story at the ASEAN level. Experts warn that the organization's dialogue mechanisms may not be sufficient to prevent or manage a broader regional crisis involving major powers. They say that except for some basic principles or issues where agreement is relatively easy — such as promoting economic cooperation — the bloc has difficulty finding formal common cause. With the exception of Vietnam, most mainland ASEAN members largely avoided the code of conduct issue. Maritime countries, either as claimants or states that use the waterway, have been reluctant to publicly back the Philippines, despite a 2016 international arbitral tribunal ruling invalidating Beijing's claims to most of the disputed waters. 'Not all ASEAN claimant states face the same kind of pressure from China, or have as many of their claimed features occupied,' said Thomas Daniel, of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia, noting that this influences national positions and appetites for risk. Even more of an impediment to cooperation is ASEAN claimant states' history of distrust — many are also involved in disputes with each other, not just with China. Southeast Asian claimant states 'once believed that using the collective heft of ASEAN to negotiate with Beijing on the South China Sea might yield more favorable outcomes, but that has clearly not played out as intended,' Daniel said. Instead, China has managed to successfully exploit 'both diverging priorities within ASEAN and the group's consensus-based decision-making to its own advantage,' he added. Manila's frustration with the latter was voiced earlier this month by Philippine national security adviser Eduardo Ano, who urged ASEAN to be the 'strongest defender' of the concept that 'might does not make right.' In the region, the demand for consensus has sometimes become an 'instrument for inaction and inertia,' Ano said, warning that the search for an agreement by all has become 'an obstacle to arrive at important and unified mechanisms.' Over the past few decades, ASEAN has grown diverse in terms of interests, government types and levels of economic development, creating more decision-making challenges, given that any member state also has veto power. 'The Philippines has long recognized that some ASEAN member states are unlikely to offer outright support due to their close economic ties with China,' said Dindo Manhit, president of the Stratbase ADR Institute, one of the Philippines' leading research consultancies. Manila's growing frustration lies in the 'lack of recognition' that China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea waters closest to the Philippines are not solely its concern, but rather a regional threat that undermines stability and the broader rules-based order, he added. Still, it's important to note that ASEAN was never intended to be a security-focused bloc. 'ASEAN's inherent limitations must be acknowledged as it was not primarily established to address political and sociocultural issues,' Manhit said, adding that the grouping's core focus remains economic cooperation. Given these limitations, he added, the Philippines' best course of action would be to pursue partnerships with maritime ASEAN states and like-minded countries — including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight, as well as economic rights within their exclusive economic zones. Aware of the limitations, Manila has in recent years begun taking matters into its own hands. It has boosted military spending, deepened defense partnerships with countries like Japan, while also expanding security ties with outside partners such as New Zealand, Canada, India, France and Germany — moves that suggest Manila is not pinning all its hopes on the elusive code-of-conduct agreement. These actions 'should not be seen as a reaction against any particular nation,' Manhit said, but 'rather as part of its broader strategy to strengthen its security posture and contribute to regional stability.'
NHK
26-05-2025
- NHK
US, Philippine Marines to conduct live-fire drill of NMESIS missile system
The US Marine Corps will carry out a live-fire drill using the cutting-edge NMESIS anti-ship missile system during joint exercises with the Philippines for the first time. The two countries' Marines started the annual event in the Philippines on Monday. A news conference was held at Philippine Marine Corps headquarters in Manila. Commandant Arturo Rojas said there will be a live-fire drill using NMESIS during a counter landing exercise, along with simulations. The system uses remotely operated unmanned vehicles to launch anti-ship missiles with a range of over 180 kilometers. A US official said the system will enhance the Philippines' defense and allow the country to modernize its military. The live-fire drill may draw a sharp reaction by China as it will be held in the Philippines' northern part of Luzon island, near Taiwan. The joint exercises will take place across the Philippines through June 6, with more than 4,000 US and Philippine personnel taking part. They will also be joined by other countries including Japan and South Korea.
