US and Philippine forces sink a ship during large-scale exercises in the South China Sea

US and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian Air Force surveillance plane, unleashed a barrage of high-precision missiles, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship on Wednesday as part of large-scale war exercises in and near the disputed South China Sea. Beijing opposed.

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During large-scale military exercises in the South China Sea, US and Philippine forces supported by an Australian reconnaissance aircraft demonstrated significant military capabilities by sinking a mock enemy ship. These are the most important points:

1. Joint military exerciseThe exercises, called Balikatan (which means shoulder to shoulder in Tagalog), involved more than 16,000 troops from the US, the Philippines and Australia, demonstrating their combat readiness through coordinated attacks on a mock enemy ship.
2. Strategic locationThe exercises took place near the disputed South China Sea, especially near the Spratly Islands, a region of heightened tensions due to territorial claims by several countries, including China.
3. Political implicationsThis military demonstration comes amid growing concerns over China’s assertive actions in the South China Sea, including the harassment of Philippine Navy and Coast Guard vessels. The exercises signal a strong defensive alliance between the US and the Philippines, highlighting their preparedness and commitment to regional stability.
4. The Chinese answerChina, which claims large parts of the South China Sea, has voiced its opposition to these exercises and the increased US military presence in the region, warning that such actions could escalate tensions and affect regional stability.
5. Defense and DiplomacyThe exercise serves not only as a show of military strength, but also as a diplomatic message underscoring the commitment of the US and the Philippines to defend their interests in the face of regional threats, thereby strengthening their strategic posture against potential adversaries in the region strengthens.

The Associated Press has the story:

US and Philippine forces sink a ship during large-scale exercises in the South China Sea

Newslooks- LAOAG, Philippines (AP) —

US and Philippine forces, backed by an Australian Air Force surveillance plane, unleashed a barrage of high-precision missiles, artillery fire and airstrikes and sank a mock enemy ship on Wednesday as part of large-scale war exercises in and near the disputed South China Sea. Beijing opposed.

Military officials and diplomats from several countries watched the display of firepower from a hilltop along a sandy coast in Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, the northern home province of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

More than 16,000 military personnel from the United States and the Philippines, along with a few hundred Australian troops and military observers from 14 countries, took part in annual combat readiness exercises called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder to shoulder. The exercises, which began April 22 and ended Friday, included a scenario of a foreign invasion of the Philippine archipelago.

It’s the latest indication of how the United States and the Philippines have strengthened a defense alliance that began in the 1950s, amid concerns in recent years about China’s increasingly aggressive actions in disputed areas in Asia.

Marcos has ordered his military to shift focus to external defense from decades-long domestic counter-insurgency operations as Chinese actions in the South China Sea become a top concern. That strategic shift aligns with efforts by U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration to strengthen a series of alliances in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China.

China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its Navy and Coast Guard ships with powerful water cannons, a military-grade laser, blocking moves and other dangerous maneuvers on the high seas near two disputed shoals in the South China Sea. They led to a minor collision that injured several Philippine Navy personnel and damaged supply boats.

“We are under fire,” Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Romualdez told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“We don’t have the resources to combat all this bullying from China, so where else do we go?” Romualdez said. “We went to the right party, which is the United States and those who believe in what the US is doing.”

China has accused the Philippines of instigating hostilities in the disputed waters by encroaching on what it says are offshore areas demarcated by 10 lines on a map. It said the Chinese coast guard and navy have been forced to take action to expel the Philippine coast guard and other ships from those areas. The Philippines has repeatedly cited a 2016 international arbitration ruling based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that invalidated China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea on historical grounds.

China did not participate in the arbitration complaint filed by the Philippines in 2013, rejected the ruling and continues to defy it.

After being repeatedly hit by rocket and artillery fire and bombs dropped by American and Philippine warplanes during the combat exercises, the mock enemy ship sank as black smoke billowed from its stern. The target ship was made in China but was decommissioned by the Philippine Navy in 2020 due to mechanical and electrical problems, the Philippine military said.

Philippine military officials said the exercises were not directed against any country. China has opposed military exercises involving U.S. troops and increased U.S. military deployments in the region, warning it would escalate tensions and endanger regional stability.

For the first time in years, the combat exercises were held in and near the hotly contested area of ​​the Spratly Islands, which China closely guards with its coast guard, navy and suspected militia flotillas.

On Monday, U.S. and Philippine Marines, transported by Black Hawk helicopters, practiced securing an airfield in the country’s northernmost city of Itbayat, along the Bashi Canal near southern Taiwan. A small group of journalists, including from the AP, were invited to witness the air and ground combat maneuvers.

‘They don’t operate in safe areas. They are operating a little further to the western border and they are doing so to practice the ways they would have to operate in real life,” British Defense Attaché told Manila Bea Walcot, who watched the sinking exercise.

Washington and Beijing are on a collision course over China’s increasingly assertive actions to defend its territorial claims in the South China Sea, and Beijing’s stated goal of annexing Taiwan, by force if necessary.

In February last year, Marcos approved a broader US military presence in the Philippines by allowing rotating groups of US forces to stay in four more Philippine military camps. That was a sharp reversal from his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who feared a larger U.S. military footprint would antagonize Beijing.

China strongly opposed the move, which allows US forces to establish staging areas and surveillance posts in the northern Philippines across the Channel from Taiwan, and in the western Philippine provinces overlooking the South China Sea.

China has warned that the deepening of the security alliance between Washington and Manila and their ongoing military exercises should not harm its security and territorial interests or interfere in the territorial disputes. The Philippines countered that they have the right to defend their sovereignty and territorial interests.

“An alliance is very important to show China that you may have all the ships you have, but we have a lot of firepower to sink them all,” Romualdez said.

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