MANILA - The Philippines and the
United States will begin war games
near disputed South China Sea
waters this week, showcasing fast-
expanding military ties and likely
further stoking tensions with China.
The annual exercises, which involve
2,300 marines from both sides, will
take place amid the backdrop of
ongoing negotiations to further
increase an American military
presence and the deployment of its
hardware in the former US colony.
They also come three weeks before
US President Barack Obama is due to
visit Manila, a huge moment for the
Philippines as it looks for US support
amid a worsening row with China
over rival claims to parts of the
South China Sea. The Chinese will
view these military exercises as yet
another example of the Philippines
stirring up tensions in the South
China Sea and of the US taking
advantage of the situation to
increase its military presence,
regional security expert Ian Storey
told AFP.
Beijing, which insists it has
sovereignty to nearly all of the South
China Sea, has repeatedly railed at
the Philippines for refusing to back
down in the territorial dispute and
seeking to draw the US closer.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and
Taiwan also have competing claims
to parts of the sea, which is believed
to sit atop vast deposits of fossil
fuels, but China has been
particularly angered at the
Philippines for being the most vocal.
For the Philippines, the dispute will
continue to be the central driver of
efforts to intensify its alliance with
the US, according to Storey, a senior
fellow at the Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies in Singapore.
The Philippine-US Amphibious
Landing Exercises (Phiblex) will
begin on Wednesday at a naval base
in Zambales, a province on the
western coast of Luzon island facing
the South China Sea.
It is about 220 kilometres (135
miles) from Scarborough Shoal, a
group of rocky outcrops in the
Philippines internationally
recognised exclusive economic zone
which has been occupied by Chinese
vessels since last year.
Scarborough Shoal has become the
prime focus of the territorial dispute
in recent weeks, with the Philippines
accusing China of erecting concrete
structures there.
The war games, which will last three
weeks, will involve two US warships
and live ground fire exercises,
according to the Philippine military.
Staff planning exercises will also be
held that will increase the
capability to conduct bilateral
maritime security and territorial
defence operation, the US embassy
said in a statement.
Neither side, however, would release
the specific locations for the sea
drills.
The exercises take place as the allies
are moving closer to a planned deal
that would expand the US troop
presence in the Philippines, which
wants the agreement struck before
the end of the year.
The pact would allow the United
States to bring military hardware on
to local bases, and formalise more
US troop visits.
The United States had a permanent
military presence at two bases in the
Philippines until 1992.
The bases were closed amid
nationalist opposition, but the
current administration of President
Benigno Aquino has rallied pro-US
sentiment to counter China.
Even ahead of the pact, there has
been a surge in recent years of US
troops passing through the
Philippines, according to John
Blaxland, a security and defence
analyst at the Australia National
Universitys College of Asia and the
Pacific.
This has dovetailed with Obamas
strategic pivot to Asia, which in
turn has fuelled long-held Chinese
concerns about the US trying to
encircle China.
The Philippines is one of the most
enthusiastic supporters for the
rebalancing in Asia, and the US is
very happy to have regained routine
access, if not formal basing at the
naval and air facilities there,
Blaxland told AFP.
Storey also said that independent
research data showed there had
been an increase in US military
visits.
The number of US warships making
calls in the Philippines has
increased dramatically to 80 this
year, he said.
A Philippine Navy officer, who asked
not to be named, confirmed the
increase in port calls to Manila as
well as in Subic, the former US naval
base in Zambales.
AFP asked the US embassy in Manila
for data on US military visits to the
Philippines in recent years, but no
information was provided
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