US, Philippines joint drills undermine regional stability: China

ISTANBUL

China on Monday said the joint military drills by the US and the Philippines “undermine regional strategic stability.”

“The Philippines, in collusion with external countries, has been conducting large-scale military exercises, introducing and deploying strategic and tactical weapons, undermining regional strategic stability, and jeopardizing the region’s economic growth prospects,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.

Guo was reacting to a statement by a Filipino military general that Manila regards the annual “Balikatan” military exercise with the US, launched on Monday, as a “rehearsal for their defense,” Chinese state-run Global Times reported.

The US and its oldest military ally in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines, opened their annual military drills in the disputed South China Sea on Monday amid the ongoing tensions with Beijing.

Named the “Super Bowl” of exercises in the region, the three-week “Balikatan," or "shoulder to shoulder," drills are being attended by some 18,000 troops from both sides.

The exercise includes an integrated air and missile defense simulation to be attended by President Ferdinand Marcos.

However, Beijing claimed Manila’s joint drills with extra-regional forces had “positioned the Philippines in direct opposition to regional countries, triggering strong resentment and opposition.”

Balikatan 25 is taking place from April 21 to May 9 in Luzon Strait, which lies between the Philippines' Luzon Island and Taiwan.

“The Taiwan question is purely a matter of China’s internal affairs and is the core of China’s core interests. China firmly opposes any country using the Taiwan question as a pretext to strengthen military deployments in the region, provoke tensions and confrontations, and undermine regional peace and stability,” said ministry spokesman Guo.

He urged Manila and Washington “not to provoke on the Taiwan question,” warning that “those who play with fire will inevitably burn themselves.”

A US Marine Corps regiment, equipped with Naval Strike Missiles, is taking part in the drill, marking the system’s inaugural deployment in the Philippines.

The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain choke point” in the waters between Taiwan and the Philippines.

The Naval Strike Missile has a reported operational range of more than 185 kilometers (115 miles).

"We will demonstrate not just our will to uphold our mutual defence treaty in existence since 1951 but our matchless capability to do so," US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn said at the Balikatan opening ceremony in Manila.

The Philippines' Maj. Gen. Francisco Lorenzo said the exercises would reinforce the country's ability to address "contemporary security challenges."

Apart from the US and the Philippines, other countries, including Australia and Japan, are also sending smaller contingents.

*Aamir Latif in Karachi contributed to this story.