Philippines expands defence ties as biggest drills with Australia kick off

The Philippines and Australia have begun their largest-ever joint military exercises amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea.

The drills, taking place in Palawan province facing the contested waterway, will run from August 15 to 29, foreign media reports.

Around 3,600 troops from both countries are participating, joined by units from the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

“This marks the beginning of the most extensive and complex iteration of the bilateral defence exercise since its inception in 2023,” the Philippine military said in a statement.

Manila has increasingly sought support from allied nations to push back against Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. China asserts sovereignty over most of the strategic waterway, despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated its claims. The overlapping territorial disputes also involve Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

Australia is the second country, after the United States, to sign a Visiting Forces Agreement with the Philippines, which permits the large-scale deployment of troops for combat training in each other’s territory. Manila has also signed a similar accord with Japan, which will take effect next month, and is in talks with several Asian and Western nations, including France and Canada, for comparable agreements.

China has criticised multinational defence drills and alliances in or near the South China Sea, accusing the US and its partners of “ganging up” against it and militarising the region.

Tensions have escalated in recent weeks. On August 11, a Chinese navy vessel collided with a Chinese coast guard ship during an attempt to drive away a smaller Philippine coast guard boat near Scarborough Shoal. The Australian Embassy in Manila condemned the incident, calling it “dangerous and unprofessional conduct” by Chinese vessels and stressing the need for restraint, de-escalation, and adherence to international law.

The United States responded on August 13 by deploying two warships off Scarborough Shoal as part of a freedom of navigation operation, challenging China’s expansive claims, restrictions, and its demand for prior entry notifications in the disputed waters.

Earlier this year, tensions also flared when a Chinese J-16 fighter jet released flares within 30 meters of an Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft flying in international airspace, Australian defence officials said.

By Tamilla Hasanova