05/04/2013
The Philippine-US “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) military exercises kick off Friday amid fears that these are being used to prepare for a “major attack” by the US.
Expected to attend the event at Camp Aguinaldo are Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin, US Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, AFP Chief of Staff General Emmanuel T. Bautista, AFP Command and General Staff College Commandant Major General Virgillo O. Domingo, and US Deputy Exercise Director Brigadier Generak Richard M. Simcock II.
Over 8,000 troops will participate in the joint military training scheduled until April 17 in Central Luzon.
After the US announced that it would deploy 20 of its air assets for the activities, 12 fighter jets or F/A-18 Hornets from the US military will arrive in Clark, Pampanga in the upcoming days, said Balikatan spokesman Major Emmanuel Garcia.
Read more at Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Click here for latest South China Sea news.
In the past few years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been expanding its activities in the South China Sea in particular and the Indo-Pacific in general.
On July 5, a week before hosting the 2023 NATO Summit, Lithuania released its own Indo-Pacific Strategy, becoming the 6th European country to devise such document (after France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Czech Republic, if not including the EU). A few observations could be made from a...
On the 7th anniversary of the final ruling rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal in the arbitration between the Philippines and China concerning the South China Sea (July 12, 2016 - July 12, 2023), some countries, including claimants and non-claimants, issued statements expressing their positions regarding...
On 28 April, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its final Judgment on the dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, finally ending the dispute that had lasted for over three years. Both Mauritius...
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu officially visited Russia from April 15th to April 17th, 2023. The visit was closely monitored by the West due to their belief that the increasingly closer relationship between China and Russia, both politically and militarily, may result in China’s decision to provide...
---Copy.png&w=200)
