The Philippines and Australia kick off their largest joint drills near South China Sea
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The joint exercises will run from Aug 15 to 29.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES/X
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MANILA – The Philippines and Australia have started their largest joint military exercises as tensions continue in the South China Sea.
The joint exercises, which includes drills in Palawan province facing the South China Sea, will run from Aug 15 to 29, the Philippine military said late on Aug 15.
It will involve 3,600 military personnel from the Philippines and Australia, with additional participation from the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Marine Corps, it added.
“This marks the beginning of the most extensive and complex iteration of the bilateral defence exercise since its inception in 2023,” the military said.
Manila has increasingly turned to like-minded nations to counter Beijing’s aggression and claims of sovereignty in large swathes of the South China Sea.
China’s territorial claims to the strategic waterway overlap with those of neighbouring nations, and were invalidated by a landmark ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
