The annual “Balikatan” Exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and United States Armed Forces will proceed as scheduled next week even as China warned that it will only lead to “greater insecurity” for the Philippines.
“The AFP emphasizes that the Balikatan exercises are not directed towards any specific country,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said on Thursday, April 18, in response to the remarks made by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian urging Manila to reconsider rallying external forces to “flex military muscles” and “provoke conflicts” in the South China Sea.
"This longstanding initiative, spanning several years, is aimed at enhancing cooperation, fostering training opportunities, and strengthening regional stability," Padilla added.
On Wednesday, April 17, Lin said that China has already made clear its position on the military cooperation between the Philippines and US.
“The Philippines needs to be fully aware that when countries outside the region are brought into the South China Sea to flex muscles and stoke confrontation, tensions could get worse and the region will only become less stable,” the Chinese spokesman stated.
“To hand over one’s security to forces outside the region will only lead to greater insecurity and turn oneself into someone else’s chess piece,” he added.
The 39th iteration of the Balikatan, which translates to shoulder to shoulder, will run from April 22 to May 10.
An estimated 16,770 AFP and US Armed Forces personnel will train together to bolster collaboration and readiness across a spectrum of critical areas including external defense operations, cyber defense, counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and interagency capacity-building.
This is aside from participants from the Australian Defense Force and French Navy who will also be joining select drills, as well as 14 countries that will send “observers” such as Japan, South Korea, India, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Germany, and New Zealand.
China did not send observers to the war games.
For the first time in the history of Balikatan, a group sail among the navies and coast guards of the AFP, US, Australia, and France will be held beyond the 12-nautical mile territorial waters of the Philippines, parts of which are being claimed by China despite the issuance of a 2016 arbitral ruling invalidating its claims.
Previous versions only included joint patrols within the country’s territorial waters.
The Balikatan Exercise is the latest in a "show of unity" by the AFP with counterparts from allied countries and strategic partners amid increasing tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) due to the aggression of Chinese vessels against Philippine vessels.
Earlier this month, a multilateral maritime cooperative activity was also conducted by the AFP with partners from the US, Japan and Australia in the WPS.