Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. fired back at Beijing on Tuesday, April 21, as China criticized the ongoing Exercise Balikatan between the Armed Forces of the Philippines, United States, and other allied forces, saying the drills are part of a “collective deterrence” and not aimed at any country.

Teodoro dismissed China’s repeated objections to the annual war games involving thousands of Filipino and American troops, with Japanese forces also joining this year’s iteration.

“It is, first and foremost, an exercise of collective deterrence, and if China reacts that way, then it means to say that whatever plans they have are deterred. If the shoe fits, it’s not the problem of the participant, it is their problem,” Teodoro said.

The defense chief made the remark as China warned that military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific should not target any third party, accusing external forces of fueling division in the region.

In a press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun reiterated their country’s position that regional security should not involve external military blocs, warning that such cooperation could “backfire” for countries that rely on others for defense.

However, Teodoro dismissed the warning as part of Beijing’s pattern of messaging aimed at deflecting criticism over its actions in disputed waters.

“It is always for China a question of guilt avoidance and the world knows these kinds of messages only serve to concretize the case that they are against the world in terms of freedom of navigation, in terms of norms,” Teodoro noted.

He said the Philippines does not trust China’s intentions, pointing to a long record of Beijing’s coercive actions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“The real point is there is no trust at all in China because their intentions are sinister and non-transparent,” Teodoro stressed.

Balikatan, now in its 41st iteration, involves around 17,000 troops from the AFP, US military, and partner nations such as Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and New Zealand.

The troops are conducting joint drills across land, air, maritime, and cyber domains.

At Camp Aguinaldo, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the exercises are defensive in nature and part of modernization efforts.

“These are all part of a sovereign nation's actions to prepare her armed component, armed forces to be modern and multi-capable,” Trinidad said.

“Again, it is not designed against any particular country. It is designed to give us a minimum credible deterrence capability,” he added.

He also brushed off China’s warning that the exercises could backfire, saying such remarks are expected.

“These are expected of them. What do we expect of them? They would applaud us? It's all part of the deceptive messaging,” Trinidad shared.

The retiring admiral said the AFP remains “unfazed” by Beijing’s statements and will continue joint activities with partner nations in the Indo-Pacific.

“We are unfazed by that. We are, we will not be deterred from performing our mandate,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DND highlighted its growing defense cooperation with Japan as the country welcomed Tokyo’s review of defense transfer policies, which Teodoro said would strengthen Philippine access to advanced defense equipment.

“The Department of National Defense welcomes the results of the Review of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and its Implementation Guidelines which will allow the Philippines to access defense articles of the highest quality and supportability which will not only enable us to strengthen domestic resilience but also to contribute to regional stability through deterrence in a meaningful way.” Teodoro said.

“Our defense partnership with Japanese has entered a new era of working together and with other like-minded partners to secure our individual and collective rights and entitlements under international law through principled advocacy buttressed by deterrence,” he added.

The defense chief also noted continued Japanese support for disaster response and plans for deeper security cooperation with Tokyo.

Teodoro is expected to meet Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in the coming weeks to further discuss defense partnerships amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

“We will discuss anchoring mechanisms for a strong and responsive alliance,” Teodoro said.